NEW: Federal judge Tipton just ended the hearing over Texas' lawsuit seeking to block the Biden administration from pausing deportations for 100 days --- he issued no ruling right away BUT it seems possible he blocks the deportation pause as the case moves forward.
The DOJ attorney, Adam Kirschner, basically said the agreement Texas had signed with Trump's DHS was useless.
Kirschner said that DOJ had serious concerns about the agreement Texas signed with Trump's DHS in January.
He said that Texas was basically asking to "run federal immigration law" and that they were saying that DHS "signed over the statutory rights provided to it by Congress to the state of Texas for 180 days."
I wonder what legal experts think here but Tipton asked Kirschner if he had the ability to pause the Biden deportation moratorium as the two sides argued over a longer block on the policy. Kirschner indicated he could not.
Tipton then went on to say that any ruling he makes on the TRO -- or a temporary restraining order -- is not indicative of how he'd rule over the merits of the case and a potential preliminary injunction.
Kirschner, the DOJ attorney, on the unusual agreement Texas signed with DHS: "This is a v extraordinary request. 'Nevermind you can't do what you want to do because the last administration, 12 days before gave us the veto over your policy."
MORE on those agreements, which we first reported a week ago and are already set to determine how effective Biden's immigration agenda will be in the coming weeks/months: buzzfeednews.com/article/hameda…
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STORY: Texas has filed a lawsuit seeking to stop President Biden’s pause on deportations by claiming that the DHS violated the terms of an agreement with the previous administration that guaranteed the state a chance to weigh in on immigration policies.
In December and January, DHS signed agreements with multiple jurisdictions, including the state of Arizona, Indiana, South Carolina, Alabama, and Texas, that appeared to be an effort to hamstring the Biden administration’s goals to pause deportations & make other moves.
Ken Paxton is seeking to block the moratorium by claiming that its immediate implementation violates the agreement the state signed with DHS, along with alleged violations of federal immigration and administrative law.
With little fanfare, the DHS OIG published a VERY redacted copy of an independent investigation into the office.
"The agency was beset by employees’ accusations of misconduct & retaliation, frequent internal investigations of OIG personnel & complaints & counter-complaints…."
There are multiple references to Game of Thrones and an all-time footnote explaining who. Arya is and her character's background (not a good sign for the office).
Last week, we saw that the Department of Justice OIG released a very thorough report on the family separation policy at the border. The report was considerably more substantive than any DHS OIG investigation I've seen in recent years.
.@KenPaxtonTX says Biden administration is violating the agreement TX signed w/ Trump’s DHS, which said the agency would check in with Texas before making changes.
“We require an immediate response or we will seek relief to enjoin your order, as contemplated by the Agreement.”
The agreement, which was first reported by @BuzzFeedNews, requires that DHS to provide notice of immigration policy changes and allow the jurisdictions six months to review and submit comments before the agency moves forward.
The memo states that the 100-day pause applies to to all noncitizens with final deportation orders except those who have engaged in a suspected act of terrorism, people not in the US before Nov. 1, 2020, or those who have voluntarily agreed to waive any right to remain in the US.
There is also an exception for individuals who the acting director of ICE determines should be deported. The memo did not immediately address those in ICE detention.
BREAKING: DHS announces deportation moratorium — it begins on Friday.
Obviously, the key sentence here is 'certain noncitizens' --- how that is defined is ultimately the most important part of figuring out how expansive this moratorium is.
NEW: Here is who the moratorium DOES NOT apply to:
NEW: DHS announces that effective Thursday it "cease adding individuals into the" Remain in Mexico (or MPP) Program.
"All current MPP participants should remain where they are, pending further official information from U.S. government officials."
COVID-19 travel restrictions remain in place, officials say.
Immigration courts have suspended Remain In Mexico processing since this summer so people who have been placed into the program recently have been waiting in Mexico without any idea of when their court date will take place.