A federal judge has indefinitely banned President Joe Biden’s government from suspending immigrant deportations for 100 days.
In late Tuesday, District Judge Drew Tipton issued a preliminary injunction that Texas had requested, arguing that the suspension violated federal law and ran the risk of imposing additional charges on the state.
Biden’s measure, enacted on the same day as the inauguration of a memorandum, halted deportations for 100 days from Friday, January 22, for those immigrants who had entered the United States without papers before November.
Tipton, a Trump-appointed judge, ruled on Jan. 26 that the moratorium violated federal administrative procedures law and that the Biden administration had failed to provide “concrete and reasonable justification for a 100-day break in deportations.” The restraining order that the judge issued at the time was due to expire on Tuesday.
Tipton’s ruling does not require deportations to resume at the old pace. Even without a moratorium, immigration offices have ample leeway to enforce removals and prosecute cases.
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But in the days following his ruling, authorities deported 15 people to Jamaica and hundreds of others to Central America. The Biden administration has also continued to deport immigrants as part of a separate process initiated by officials of former President Donald Trump, invoking public health laws over the coronavirus pandemic.
The legal battle for a ban on deportation is the first sign of Republican resistance to Biden’s immigration priorities.
During his tenure, Trump signed travel bans from seven Muslim-majority countries. Several groups managed to stop the ban.
It was not immediately clear whether the Biden government will appeal against Tipton’s latest ruling. The Justice Department has not requested a suspension of his previous restraining order.
With AP information