Biden administration files motion to halt, combine appeals for federal orders blocking migrant release

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Biden administration migrant release motion overview: 

• Who: The U.S. Department of Justice is urging the 11th Circuit to temporarily halt and combine appeals for challenged federal orders preventing the Department of Homeland Security from being able to release noncitizens due to overcrowding at border facilities. 
• Why: The government argues the federal orders are “unlikely to be upheld” and will cause “irreparable harm” to the U.S. 
• Where: The time-sensitive motion is based on an underlying case that was filed in Florida federal court. 

President Joe Biden’s administration is asking the 11th Circuit to temporarily halt and combine appeals for challenged district court orders blocking the migrant release at overcrowded border facilities by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). 

In a time-sensitive motion for administrative and stay pending appeal, filed last week, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) argues the DHS should be allowed to continue using two policies adopted by the agency to increase the speed that it can process individual noncitizens “during exigent circumstances.”  

“DHS seeks the Court’s intervention to restore its full statutory authorities to quickly address these dynamic circumstances,” the motion states. 

The government argues that, while the number of non-citizens coming through the U.S. border has declined, the number of migrants who find themselves in custody has become “dangerously high,” and that the federal orders are “overbroad.” 

The DOJ argues further that the federal orders granting injunction “deeply intrudes into the core concerns of the executive branch.” 

The orders were issued earlier this year to try and ensure the safety of both migrants in custody and U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) agents, and to prevent border detention facilities from getting overwhelmed, according to the DOJ. 

Federal orders ‘unlikely to be upheld,’ Biden administration says

The government, meanwhile, argues the federal orders are “unlikely to be upheld,” due to their “deep intrusion into executive authority to consider noncitizens for release in appropriate circumstances,” and will cause “irreparable harm” to the U.S. 

“The orders frustrate the most effective measures available to DHS to secure the border while protecting the health and welfare of USBP agents and noncitizens during periods of increased border encounters that require immediate action by USBP to avoid overwhelming DHS capacity,” the motion states.

A federal judge, meanwhile, earlier last week denied a request to stay an injunction put in place for one of the policies — called parole with conditions — and further rejected a warning from the DHS that “chaos” would occur if the court chose to block the order, Law360 reports. 

The judge also noted the May 11 expiration of the Title 42 policy — which allowed migrants to be turned back at the border and denied the ability to seek asylum — had not led to problems at border facilities. 

While acknowledging “the number of crossers has decreased,” the DOJ argues that “at any moment the flow of noncitizens could return to where it was immediately before May 11.” 

In December, the Biden administration announced it planned to appeal a D.C. circuit court judge’s November 2020 decision to immediately end the enforcement of Title 42 for families and single adults. 

Do you believe the Department of Homeland Security should be blocked from allowing migrant release from border facilities in the event of overcrowding? Let us know in the comments.

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