Supreme Court prevents Biden administration from reinstating limits on ICE arrests

The Supreme Court on Thursday prevented the Biden administration from immediately reinstating rules that instructed U.S. deportation agents to prioritize the arrest of certain unauthorized immigrants, including those determined to pose a risk to public safety or national security.

In an unsigned order, the high court rejected a request by the administration to pause a ruling by a federal judge in Texas last month that forced the administration to stop enforcing the arrest guidelines issued by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in September 2021.

Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett would have granted the Biden administration's request to suspend the lower court order. The court's majority, however, decided to hear the merits of the challenge over Mayorkas' memo, setting up oral arguments in the case, known as U.S. v. Texas, during its December session.