After Supreme Court Smack Down, DHS Becomes a Supplicant in Mexico



Two court losses suffered by the Biden administration in recent days are potentially big wins for the American people.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an order reinstating Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP, also known as the Remain in Mexico policy). Five days earlier, a federal judge blocked the administration from limiting deportations.

Together, the rulings can help restore and enforce sane immigration policies. But don’t expect Team Biden to go down without more passive-aggressive resistance.

The high court chided the administration’s “arbitrary and capricious” abandonment of MPP, and ignoring proper procedures under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The court also affirmed there are only two legal options for migrants seeking asylum at the southern border: “mandatory detention or a return to a contiguous territory.”

The justices sided with claims by Texas and Missouri that migrants released into this country by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) exacerbate crime, abet human trafficking and increase costs for education, health care and other services. FAIR has asserted that reinstating MPP is a first step toward restoring order at the border, giving policymakers space to repair this nation’s badly abused asylum laws.

But the initial response from DHS was both disingenuous and disturbing. Though pledging to act in “good faith,” the department raised a large red flag by announcing it “has begun to engage with the government of Mexico in diplomatic discussions surrounding the MPP.”

This, of course, enables Mexico City to say, “We don’t want these migrants, they are your problem” – effectively nullifying the Supreme Court’s decision. If past is prologue, Biden & Co. won’t press hard for any solution that honors U.S. sovereignty and security. Their version of “good faith” can be translated to mean, “You all will probably have died of old age by the time we get MPP up and running again.”

In the decision on deportations, U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton found that the administration violated federal law. Its orders — which have sharply reduced removals – should have been implemented through regulations open to comments from the public, Tipton ruled.

Substantially, Biden’s directives restricted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportations to recent border-crossers and migrants deemed a threat to public safety or national security. Claiming a lack of resources, while it limits funding, the administration has tied up agents in bureaucratic tape, requiring supervisory approval to detain any illegal alien outside its narrowed categories.

The White House will undoubtedly appeal Tipton’s ruling, but his 160-page decision is in line with other courts that prevented Donald Trump from skirting the APA. At minimum, the judge has tapped the brakes on Joe Biden’s relentless drive to demolish immigration laws.

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