(Washington) Supreme Court justices appeared Tuesday to issue a narrow ruling in a case involving Joe Biden’s government policy on deporting undocumented immigrants.
The nine magistrates, including six conservatives, examined for two hours a dispute between the Democratic administration and the State of Texas, led by Republicans.
Beyond the immigration issue, many seemed to want to avoid rendering a judgment that would open the door to endless lawsuits against any decision of the federal state.
The case began in September 2021 when Homeland Security Minister Alejandro Mayorkas asked the immigration police (ICE) to focus their efforts on foreigners who pose a terrorist or criminal threat, and those who arrived later. 1er November 2020.
More than eleven million illegal immigrants live in the United States and “we do not have the resources to arrest and deport each one” of them, he justified, taking the opposite view of former Republican President Donald Trump.
These new instructions were immediately challenged in court by conservative states. They had pleaded that they would cause them additional costs in terms of education, police and social services.
A judge ruled in their favor in June and blocked the implementation of this new policy. Joe Biden’s government then turned to the Supreme Court.
During the hearing on Tuesday, several conservative magistrates seemed to think that the instructions of the Democratic government violated a federal law on the detention of undocumented immigrants who have been the subject of criminal convictions.
However, they took note of the limits of a potential stop in favor of Texas.
The head of the Court John Roberts thus underlined “the impossibility” of expelling all foreigners falling into this category. We do not have “60 to 80,000 empty beds” in the detention centers, he noted.
“If you win and the government says they don’t have the money to do more, what will happen? added fellow Conservative Brett Kavanaugh.
“Speculate”
The three progressive magistrates for their part criticized Texas for not having provided proof of the damage suffered.
“You have to prove the net effect of the policy and you haven’t,” said Sonia Sotomayor, putting the case in context.
Clandestine arrivals at the southern border are currently breaking historic records, with more than 227,000 arrests in the month of September alone. “If nothing is done, the border states will be flooded,” noted the magistrate.
For her, allocating resources as a priority to the fight against these arrivals, rather than to the expulsion of immigrants who have been living in Texas for a long time, could therefore benefit the state.
“It’s not enough to come here and speculate on your costs,” also launched judge Elena Kagan. Otherwise, “each state will be able to take legal action at the slightest opportunity and stop the federal policies that it does not like,” she warned.
Judge Kavanaugh also seemed anxious not to go down that road.
He referred to the President’s power to declare war, guaranteed by the United States Constitution. “It certainly has a cost for a state to send its citizens to war, so why couldn’t it file a complaint in the name of your theory? he asked the Texas attorney.
The Supreme Court is due to issue its decision by June 30.