The U.S. Supreme Court late Tuesday denied the Biden administration’s request to stay a lower court’s ruling reinstating a former President Donald Trump’s “Stay in Mexico” policy.
The Trump-era policy requires immigrants seeking asylum to remain in Mexico while they navigate the court system to legally gain admittance into the U.S.
The states of Texas and Missouri filed suit against the Biden administration, which had reversed the “Stay in Mexico” policy, and won at the district-court level, which the Biden administration appealed.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in favor of the lower court’s ruling against the Biden administration, with liberal justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan dissenting. “The Biden administration has treated the immigration laws of the United States as, at best, suggestions for how it should deal with immigration enforcement in the United States,” Andrew Arthur, the Center for Immigration Studies’ resident fellow in law and policy, said in a statement late Tuesday. “Tonight’s Supreme Court order is proof that laws have meaning. The lower courts’ rulings will stand, imposing obligations on the Biden administration to deal with the problems it has created at the border.”
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security criticized the ruling.
“The Department of Homeland Security respectfully disagrees with the district court’s decision and regrets that the Supreme Court declined to issue a stay,” the statement said. “DHS has appealed the district court’s order and will continue to vigorously challenge it. As the appeal process continues, however, DHS will comply with the order in good faith. Alongside interagency partners, DHS has begun to engage with the Government of Mexico in diplomatic discussions surrounding the Migrant Protection Protocols.”
