On January 6, President-elect Joe Biden announced that he\ntapped D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals judge Merrick Garland for the role of\nAttorney General, the position that leads the Department of Justice. Merrick\nGarland is perhaps most famous for being President Barack Obama\u2019s final nominee\nto fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court. The Republican-controlled Senate\nblocked his nomination by refusing to hold hearings, and his nomination expired\nwhen Donald Trump became president. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Attorney General, Garland will have an incredible degree of control and influence over immigration law. The immigration courts<\/a> \u2013 the Executive Office for Immigration Review \u2013 are a subordinate agency of the Justice Department. Efforts to stop the growth of the number of sanctuary cities largely falls to the Attorney General through the use of federal grants<\/a>, and it is hard to think that Garland would continue the Trump Administration\u2019s use of the Justice Department to crack down on those states and localities that ignore immigration law. Further, and perhaps most consequential, any codification or reissuance of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) executive amnesty would begin with action from Garland and the Justice Department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As for Garland himself, what are his views on immigration? The lack of evidence about his views may surprise you. He has not ruled on any significant immigration cases in his time on the court. An article<\/a> notes that \u201cas a judge on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, Garland has generally been deferential to the executive branch’s interpretation of statutes\u201d and notes that he previously ruled in favor of both the Bush and Obama administrations on multiple cases. This would indicate that Garland believes the president has broad executive authority in a number of matters \u2013 including immigration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n President-elect Joe Biden said on the campaign trail that he wanted to send a comprehensive immigration plan<\/a> to Congress within the first 100 days of his presidency. Biden also promised to removals of illegal aliens for 100 days, reinstate DACA, end enforcement against sanctuary cities, and much more<\/a>. Many of these plans would move through Garland\u2019s Justice Department and work in concert with the Department of Homeland Security under Alejandro Mayorkas<\/a>, the architect of DACA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Unlike\nMayorkas, Garland does not have a reputation as an open-borders crusader. But\nhe \u2013 and the department he will lead, if confirmed by the Senate \u2013 have broad\ncontrol over matters of immigration law and will be prominent figures in the\nimmigration battles yet to come. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On January 6, President-elect Joe Biden announced that he tapped D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals judge Merrick Garland for the role of Attorney General, the position that leads the Department of Justice. Merrick Garland is perhaps most famous for being President Barack Obama\u2019s final nominee to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court. The Republican-controlled<\/p>\n