Biden administration asks Supreme Court to approve policy to prioritize certain immigrants for deportation

The Biden administration filed an emergency request with the Supreme Court this week to allow the enactment of an immigration policy that prioritizes deportation of those immigrants who pose the “greatest public safety risk” before deportation of any other immigrants.

The Department of Homeland Security first issued the guidance in September of 2021, and the policy has resulted in a series of court hearings with conflicting rulings on whether the policy can be enacted on a federal level. A federal judge in Texas halted the order nationwide, much to the disappointment of the White House.

In the SCOTUS filing, US Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar wrote that the Texas judge’s order “is disrupting DHS’s efforts to focus its limited resources on the noncitizens who pose the gravest threat to national security, public safety, and the integrity of our Nation’s borders.”

A previous policy by the Trump administration ordered deportations to be carried out in no particular order, regardless of criminal history.

The Supreme Court filing came a day after Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed an executive order that tests the limits of how far a state can go to enact immigration policy. The new order tells Texas National Guard and Department of Public Safety officials to return any and all illegal immigrants to ports of entry for deportation by federal authorities. 

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded to Abbott’s order on Friday, saying,  “Immigration enforcement is a federal authority and states should not be … meddling in it. That is just, especially Texas Gov. Abbott, who has a track record of causing chaos and confusion at the border.”