Supreme Court turns down Biden’s emergency immigration appeal

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday turned down an emergency appeal from the Biden administration and left in place a Texas judge’s order that says the government must detain and deport immigrants who have serious crimes on their record.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson cast her first vote in dissent, saying she would have set aside the judge‘s order. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett also voted to grant the administration’s emergency appeal.

Although the five other conservative justices rejected the emergency appeal, the court said it would hear the administration’s arguments in December.

The decision again highlights the court’s shift to the right. In the past, the justices routinely said the executive branch has broad authority to enforce the immigration laws. But in this instance, a Texas judge effectively set the national policy by vetoing the Biden administration’s enforcement plan, which said agents should focus their efforts on apprehending and detaining immigrants who posed the greatest threat.

Neither the conservative appeals court in New Orleans nor the conservative majority at the Supreme Court was willing to rein in the Texas judge. The action Thursday also led to a first-ofits-kind 5-4 split at the highest court.

The decision is not likely to have a direct or immediate effect. The administration has said it does not have enough staff and jail facilities to detain all the immigrants who could be subject to deportation for past crimes.

For the past year, Republican state attorneys general and the Democratic administration have been locked in a dispute over immigration enforcement.

At issue is whether the law requires mandatory detention for immigrants with a serious crime on their record or allows the administration to prioritize deportations by focusing on those who pose a current danger to public safety. Often, immigrants serve years in state prisons for crimes and are then released, when they may be taken into custody by federal immigration agents.