Supreme Court refuses Biden plea to halt Trump’s ‘remain in Mexico’ policy

Joe Biden is in the process of trying to dismantle Donald Trump’s immigration policy and one of the items he tried to do away with was the “remain in Mexico” policy, which requires asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while their case is heard.

The Biden administration was quickly sued by a couple of States, and on August 14th a Federal Judge reinstated the policy, claiming that the President broke Federal law by halting the program. Needless to say, the Biden administration turned around and appealed the decision. The Biden administration was seeking to have a stay granted so that the policy reversal could continue while the case made it through the court system but yesterday, in a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court refused to allow the administration to halt the remain in Mexico policy. Here is more:

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) denied a plea from President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) to halt the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program while a lawsuit brought by Texas and Missouri makes its way through the courts.

On Tuesday evening, in a 6-3 decision, SCOTUS issued an order denying DOJ’s request for the Court to issue a stay that would block the re-implementation of MPP, commonly known as “Remain in Mexico,” while the case plays out in the courts — a process that could take more than a year.

Chief Justice John Roberts, along with Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett, voted to deny the request, while Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan voted to grant the request.

“The application for a stay presented to Justice Alito and by him referred to the Court is denied,” SCOTUS wrote in the order:

The applicants have failed to show a likelihood of success on the claim that the memorandum rescinding the Migrant Protection Protocols was not arbitrary and capricious. Our order denying the Government’s request for a stay of the District Court injunction should not be read as affecting the construction of that injunction by the Court of Appeals.

This is not the first time the Supreme Court has allowed to remain in Mexico policy to continue during a court battle. Back in 2020 when the policy was first implemented and some States were suing to stop the policy the Supreme Court allowed the policy to continue. To me this is an indication that the policy is legal and I would believe this is a possible indication on how the Supreme Court will rule when the case finally makes it there.