An order that concentrated resources for the arrest and deportation of immigrants on individuals who were deemed to be a danger to public safety and national security has been postponed by the Biden administration in response to a Texas federal court decision.
Even though it strongly disagrees with the ruling and is appealing it, the Department of Homeland Security stated in a statement on Saturday that it will comply by the judgment made this month.
The suspension of Biden’s order, according to experts and immigration groups, would only cause terror among immigrant communities.
Even if they are generally law-abiding, many people residing in the country illegally will now be hesitant to leave their houses for fear of being imprisoned, according to Steve Yale-Loehr, an immigration law professor at Cornell University.
“It’s essential to prioritize who to detain and deport, he added. We just don’t have enough ICE agents to apprehend and prosecute every individual who violates our immigration laws,” according to Yale-Loehr.
The Texas case revolves around a memo that Alejandro Mayorkas, the secretary of homeland security, issued in September directing immigration authorities to concentrate their enforcement efforts on people who posed a threat to public safety or national security or had recently entered the country illegally.
The strategy represented a change from the administration of President Donald Trump, when immigration agencies were given broad discretion over who to detain, deport, and arrest.
As a result, many immigrants without legal status altered their daily routines to avoid detection, such as by refraining from driving or seeking refuge in places like churches and other establishments that are typically off-limits to immigration authorities.
Asserting that the Biden administration lacked the power to issue such an order, US District Judge Drew Tipton in southern Texas nullified Mayorkas’ memo on June 10. He did so in agreement with Republican state authorities in Texas and Louisiana.
