Biden Administration Allowed to Pursue Immigration Priorites

Chief Judge Sutton of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit yesterday ruled in a major case (Arizona v. Biden) brought by Arizona, Ohio, and Montana challenging the Biden administration’s immigration enforcement priorities:

“Last fall, the Secretary of Homeland Security issued a memorandum to his deputies outlining the Department’s immigration enforcement priorities and policies. Arizona, Montana, and Ohio filed this lawsuit in the Southern District of Ohio to enjoin
its implementation. The district court issued a `nationwide preliminary injunction,’ applicable to all 50 States, blocking the Department from relying on the priorities and policies in the memorandum in making certain arrest, detention, and removal decisions. The National  Government asks for a stay pending appeal. For the reasons that follow, we grant the stay.”

The court concluded that

“[a]ll in all, nationwide injunctions have not been good for the rule of law. Left unchecked, such nationwide injunctions have become a springing easement on the customary deliberative process for dealing with issues of national importance. The sooner they are confined to discrete settings or eliminated root and branch the better.”

KJ