HOUSTON (AP) – A federal judge on Tuesday barred the US government from enforcing a 100-day moratorium on deportation, a major immigration priority for President Joe Biden.
US District Judge Drew Tipton issued a temporary restraining order at the request of Texas, which went to court on Friday Against a Department of Homeland Security memo instructing immigration authorities to interrupt most deportations. Tipton said the Biden administration had failed to provide “any concrete, reasonable justification for a 100-day break on deportations.”
Tipton’s order is an early blow to the Biden administration, which has proposed sweeping changes that immigration advocates are pushing for, including a plan to legalize an estimated 11 million immigrants living illegally in the US. Biden promised to interrupt most deportations for 100 days during his campaign.
The warrant represents a victory for Texas Republican leaders, who often charged with stopping programs enacted by Biden’s Democratic predecessor, President Barack Obama. It also showed that just like Democratic-led states and immigration groups, former President Donald Trump fought over immigration in court, often with success, so did the Republicans with Biden in office.
David Pekoske, the acting Secretary of Homeland Security, signed a memo on Biden’s first day instructing immigration authorities to focus on threats to national and public security, as well as anyone entering the US illegally after Nov. 1. That was a reversal of Trump’s policy. that made anyone in the US illegal a priority for deportation.
The 100-day moratorium went into effect Friday and applied to almost everyone who entered the US before November without permission.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton argued that the moratorium violated federal law, as well as an agreement Texas signed with the Department of Homeland Security late in the Trump administration. Under that agreement, Homeland Security was required to consult with Texas and other states before taking any action to “reduce, reroute, re-prioritize, relax, or modify in any way” immigration enforcement.
Biden’s administration has argued in court that the agreement is unenforceable because “an outgoing administration cannot remove that authority for an incoming administration.” Paxton’s office, meanwhile, filed a Fox News op-ed as evidence that “refusal to remove illegal aliens directly leads to the immediate release of additional illegal aliens in Texas.”
Tipton, a Trump-appointed person, wrote that his order was not based on the Texas-Trump administration agreement, but on federal legislation to maintain the “status quo” ahead of the DHS moratorium.
Paxton has defended conservative and far-right causes in court, including an unsuccessful lawsuit to undo Biden’s victory over Trump, as he himself faces an FBI investigation into allegations by former top aides that he abused his office in the service of a donor .
In response to the order, Paxton tweeted “VICTORY” describing the deportation moratorium as an “incendiary leftist uprising,” a clear reference to the January 6 uprising in which Trump supporters stormed the Capitol. Five people were killed in the Capitol riots, including a Capitol Police officer.
Kate Huddleston of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas criticized Paxton, arguing that his lawsuit should not go ahead.
“The government interruption of the deportations is not only lawful, but necessary to ensure that families are not separated and people are not unnecessarily endangered as the new government evaluates previous actions,” Huddleston said in a statement.