The court ruled 8-1 Republican states that sued the Biden regime over its lack of enforcement of existing laws against illegal immigration lack any standing to have filed a lawsuit in the first place, reversing a lower court's decision.
"In sum, the States have brought an extraordinarily unusual lawsuit. They want a federal court to order the Executive Branch to alter its arrest policies so as to make more arrests. Federal courts have not traditionally entertained that kind of lawsuit; indeed, the States cite no precedent for a lawsuit like this," the opinion, written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, said.
Justice Samuel Alito, a George W. Bush appointee, was the sole dissenter, Fox News reported.
The case revolved around the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) introducing updated enforcement guidelines. Initially, the department sought to implement a 30-day suspension on all ICE deportations. However, they later released guidance that limited ICE agents to focusing on three specific categories of undocumented immigrants for apprehension and removal: recent border crossers, individuals posing a threat to public safety, and those deemed national security risks.
"The fact an individual is a removable noncitizen therefore should not alone be the basis of an enforcement action against them," DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas noted in the memo. "We will use our discretion and focus our enforcement resources in a more targeted way. Justice and our country's well-being require it."
It should be noted that regardless of various policies adopted by one administration to the next, federal statutes are clear: It is against the law to enter the United States without using an approved port of entry and having the permission to do so. Period.
Fox News noted further:
The department said it was the most efficient use of limited resources to protect the American people, but critics saw it as part of a broader rolling back of enforcement and border security. The imposition of those guidelines coincided with a sharp drop in ICE deportations. In FY 2021, which included the final months of the Trump administration, ICE arrested 74,082 noncitizens and deported 59,011. Of the 74,082 arrests between October 2020 and October 2021, only 47,755 took place after Feb. 18 when the new priorities were implemented. Of removals, just 28,677 of the 59,011 deportations took place after Feb. 18.
Texas and Louisiana challenged the legality of the guidelines, arguing that the policy breached the Administrative Procedure Act and that they had standing because their states would incur greater law enforcement costs and a significant impact on social services due to the increase in illegal immigration that resulted. A district court found that the states did have standing and blocked the implementation of the policy.
But the Supreme Court disagreed. "The threshold question is whether the States have standing under Article III to maintain this suit. The answer is no."
The majority opinion also said that while monetary costs are an injury, the injury for standing to apply also has to be "legally and judicially cognizable."
The ruling clarified that it was not asserting that states would never have standing regarding an alleged failure to carry out further arrests or prosecutions, even in cases where the Executive Branch had completely neglected its duties in this regard. However, it specified that this particular case did not meet those conditions.
The bottom line, though, is this: Thanks to this ruling, for now anyway, states are completely powerless to stop what amounts to an illegal alien invasion across their boundaries.
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