FACTS:
The Biden administration issued new guidance that would require ICE to review an immigrant’s entire criminal and administrative record and assess the totality of the circumstances before it could issue a removal order. The State of Arizona filed a lawsuit challenging this guidance on the ground that the US President lacked authority to issue it.
LEGAL THEORY:
The US President has discretion over immigration enforcement, which in this case would permit him to require a more compassionate, case-by-case approach to immigration enforcement.
STATUS:
We filed our amicus brief on behalf of the Defendants in the US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio on December 27, 2021. Oral argument took place February 16. On March 22, the Court ruled, denying Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss and granting the States’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction. This decision was appealed on March 28, 2022, a stay was granted by the Sixth Circuit on April 8, and oral argument was held on June 10. We did not participate as amicus in the appeal. On July 5, the Sixth Circuit reversed the preliminary injunction. On July 27, the States filed an unopposed motion to stay all further proceedings in the district court, pending the U.S. Supreme Court’s review of United States v. Texas, which is a separate case deadline with a number of the same issues. The Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Texas on June 23, 2023, finding that Texas and Louisiana lacked standing to sue over the new Guidelines for the Enforcement of Civil Immigration Law. Subsequently, the Plaintiff States voluntarily dismissed this case on June 27, 2023.
