An appeals court has allowed the Joe Biden government to enforce a series of rules on which immigrants
have priority for deportation
to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday reversed a decision last month by a federal judge in Texas that outlawed Biden's interim criteria.
Interim rules established by the Administration give priority for deportation to
people who are considered a threat to national security, who have a serious criminal record, or who have recently crossed the border
.
These parameters change the actions of ICE and, it is estimated, reduce policies of massive raids and the detention of undocumented people in their workplaces.
It also implies
a change
with respect to what immigrants lived during the presidency of
Donald Trump
, which made all people who were in the country illegally a priority to be returned to their places of origin.
[A judge prohibits turning away families with children at the border without allowing them to apply for asylum under Title 42]
A group of Guatemalan children arrive in Guatemala City after being deported from the United States by plane in August 2021. AP
From February to July,
there were 25,916 deportation arrests
under Biden's interim rules, the court ruling indicates.
This implies
33% fewer
arrests than the 39,107 arrests made by ICE in the same period in 2020, under the Trump Administration.
There were, however, 2,000 more people detained with a history of "serious crimes."
[Texas orders the border to be closed to stop 8,000 migrants waiting under a bridge to request asylum]
The states of Texas and Louisiana had sued the Biden government before Judge Drew Tipton, of the Federal Court of the Southern District of Texas, claiming that the policy violated the Administrative Procedures Act (APA).
Judge Tipton agreed with them in August and the Administration then took the case to the appellate court.
The Justice Department argued in court that there are insufficient resources to stop the millions of undocumented immigrants in the country, thus establishing a system of priorities.
Deviating from that, he noted, would require removing ICE agents from the southern US border, where they are assisting authorities.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals finally ruled this Wednesday in favor of the Administration.
Circuit Judge Gregg Costa, appointed by former President Barack Obama, indicated in the ruling that
the president has the authority to establish criteria when applying the law
, and that there is a long tradition of "discretion" when deciding who they must be detained and returned.
They create a website that will help reunify migrant families separated during the Trump administration
Sept.
16, 202103: 01
The Administration's victory
may prove temporary
if Texas or Louisina successfully petition the Supreme Court for intervention.
The highest court recently sided with Texas and other states to reinstate a key Trump policy that requires asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their immigration court hearings, better known as 'Stay in Mexico.'
The court battle is also just one of many between Texas, or states with a Republican majority, and Biden on immigration policy issues.
In February, Judge Tipton of Texas also blocked a 100-day lull in deportations, one of Biden's campaign promises.
With information from CNN, AP and Efe.