NEW — A panel of circuit judges allowed US border officials to use a Trump-era emergency policy to swiftly expel unaccompanied migrant children from US soil without a court hearing or an asylum interview. @CBSNews.
Representatives for the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to requests to clarify their plans.
The Justice Department declined to comment on today's court order.
The @ACLU's Lee Gelernt called it a "temporary setback" and said he will continue the lawsuit on behalf of migrant children.
"But we hope the Biden administration will not make ongoing litigation necessary by rescinding this illegal policy created by the Trump administration."
An estimated 13,000 unaccompanied migrant children were expelled from the US before Judge Emmet Sullivan ordered a stop to the practice in Nov.
The Trump admin. later conceded in court that it mistakenly expelled at least 70 unaccompanied minors in violation of Sullivan's order.
Statement from @supportKIND, a group that works with migrant children:
"The Biden Administration should waste no time in officially abandoning this cruel and senseless practice ... " supportkind.org/press-releases…
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JUST IN — The DC Circuit Court suspends a lower court that had blocked US border officials from using a Trump-era pandemic policy to expel unaccompanied migrant children without a court hearing or an asylum interview.
While US border officials can now, in theory, resume expelling unaccompanied children, it's unclear if the Biden admin will do so.
Thousands of children were expelled before a judge ordered the practice to stop in Nov. One of them was 15-year-old Marjory: cbsnews.com/news/ice-expel…
New — President Biden plans to rescind strict limits on legal immigration that former President Trump said were necessary to protect U.S. workers during the coronavirus recession, according to a top White House adviser. cbsnews.com/news/biden-tru…
Mr. Trump's proclamation, currently set to expire on March 31, has restricted family and employment-based immigration; suspended the diversity visa lottery; and barred the issuance of certain temporary work visas, like those for the H-1B program.
The remarks by top White House official Esther Olavarria represent the first indication of the Biden administration's views on the visa limits.
During the campaign and transition, Mr. Biden did not address the policy, nor did his advisers commit to revoking it.
BREAKING — U.S. Judge Drew Tipton temporarily halts the Biden administration’s 100-day moratorium on certain deportations in an early legal battle over the new president’s immigration policy.
It's important to note that while the deportation moratorium will be suspended for 14 days, today's order does not block the Biden admin. from enforcing the rest of the provisions of last week's DHS memo, which include new guidelines for ICE arrests set to take effect Monday.
The Biden admin. was in federal court this AM defending its 100-day moratorium on some deportations.
Arguing that DHS violated a Trump-era contract that purports to require DHS to inform the state of immigration policy changes, Texas is seeking a suspension of the moratorium.
Adam Kirschner, a lawyer representing the Biden admin., said the legal agreement the Trump admin. signed with Texas is "completely unenforceable.”
The Justice Department has also argued that Texas has no standing to sue and not shown it is harmed by the deportation moratorium.
Texas said the release of immigrants from ICE detention harms the state, citing social and education services.
Kirschner said some immigrants were released because of a Covid-19 custody review of detainees with underlying medical conditions that was mandated by another court.
New — ICE in 2020 arrested fewer immigrants than in any year during the Trump admin, and deportations hit a 15-year low, largely due to the pandemic.
900k immigrants were deported in the past 4 years—compared to 1.5 million during Pres. Obama's 1st term. cbsnews.com/news/ice-arres…
ICE said it carried out 185,000 deportations in FY 2020, compared to 226,000 in FY 2017, the previous Trump admin low.
ICE arrests, including "at large" ones in communities, dropped to 103,000 (from 143,000 in FY 2019).
The ICE detention population fell below 16,000 this month.
ICE said arrests and deportations dropped sharply because of travel restrictions, Covid-19 mitigation policies and because it received fewer detainees from border officials, who have been rapidly expelling most migrants.
The agency also scaled back arrests in March due to Covid.
A lot of folks (with different policy views) seem surprised that Pres-elect Biden and his advisers are saying their efforts to terminate Pres. Trump's immigration policies will not be instantaneous.