On Tuesday, a Texas federal judge temporarily blocked President Joe Biden’s 100-day moratorium on deportations; a promise he made if he were elected. The pause in deportations went into effect on Friday “and applied to almost anyone who entered the U.S. without authorization before November” reports Daily Mail UK.
Immediately, U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton, a Trump appointee, issued a temporary restraining order blocking Biden’s nationwide policy for 14 days following a legal challenge by Texas. In the complaint filed Friday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said irreparable harm would occur as the result of a deportation freeze. Paxton, a Republican, said consequences would include increased education and healthcare costs as more immigrants illegally remain in Texas.
The pause occurred after Biden took office, when a top U.S. Department of Homeland Security official issued a memo. That memo “ordered a pause on certain deportations to enable the department to better deal with ‘operational challenges’ at the U.S.- Mexico border during the pandemic” reported the Daily Mail.
Paxton also asserted the freeze went against terms of an agreement Texas had brokered with the Trump administration, no more than two weeks before Biden took office. Tipton said in Tuesday’s order that Texas had “a substantial likelihood of success’ on at least two of its claims, including that the deportation freeze violated a federal immigration law stating that authorities ‘shall remove’ immigrants with final deportation orders within 90 days” reports Daily Mail.
Additionally, the judge said Texas will likely succeed on its claim that the Biden administration ‘arbitrarily and capriciously departed from its previous policy without sufficient explanation’ when it issued the moratorium.”
