High court hears arguments over deportation policy

The Supreme Court WASHINGTON — on Tuesday wrestled with a dispute over a Biden administration policy that would prioritize deportation of people in the country illegally who pose the greatest public safety risk. It was not clear after arguments that stretched past two hours Tuesday whether the justices would allow the policy to take effect, or side with Republican-led states that have so far succeeded in blocking it.

At the center of the case is a 2021 directive from the Department of Homeland Security that paused deportations unless individuals committed acts of terrorism, espionage or “egregious threats to public safety.” The guidance, issued after Joe Biden became president, updated a Trump-era policy that removed people in the country illegally regardless of criminal history.

On Tuesday, the administration’s top Supreme Court lawyer told justices that federal law does “not create an unyielding mandate to apprehend and remove” every one of the more than 11 million immigrants living in the country illegally. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said it would be “incredibly destabilizing on the ground” for the court to require that. Congress has not given DHS enough money to vastly increase the number of people it holds and deports, the Biden administration has said. But Texas Solicitor General Judd Stone argued the administration violated federal law that requires the detention of people who are in the U.S. illegally and who have been convicted of serious crimes.

Chief Justice John Roberts was among the justices who pushed back strongly on the administration’s arguments. “It’s our job to say what the law is, not whether or not it can be possibly implemented or whether there are difficulties there,” he said. Yet Roberts also called Prelogar’s argument compelling. The court’s three liberal justices were sympathetic to the administration’s arguments. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan made clear they believe Texas and Louisiana, which joined the lawsuit, weren’t even entitled to bring their case. The states said they would face added costs of having to detain people the federal government might allow to remain free inside the United States.

Federal appeals courts had reached conflicting decisions over DHS guidance. In July, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to leave the immigration policy frozen nationwide and said it would hear arguments in the case this month.

AP At the center of the immigration fight is a 2021 directive from the Department of Homeland Security that paused deportations unless individuals had committed acts of terrorism, espionage or “egregious threats to public safety.”