Judge Extends His Suspension of Biden’s Deportation Freeze

MARY CHASTAIN FEB 9, 2021 5:00 PM

U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton in the Southern District of Texas issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) on President Joe Biden’s deportation plan after Texas filed a lawsuit against the administration.

Tipton just extended the order for 14 days to February 23, 2021.

Tipton wrote that Rule 65 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedures, which covers injunctions and restraining orders, allowed him to issue a TRO for only 14 days. Texas asked for an extension.

The rule allows the court to extend the TRO if a “good cause” justifies such a move.

The Court found “good cause” based on four reasons:

• The extra time “is necessary for the record to be more fully developed.”
• The deadlines for the defendants’ response to Texas’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction and the state “to file a reply both fall outside the original 14-day period.”
• The Court “needs time to assess the arguments and prepare a ruling on the Motion for Preliminary Injunction.”
• The Court still finds the pause would cause “irreparable harm” to Texas.

Texas asked for the order after Biden signed an executive order to pause deportations for 100-days. The Department of Homeland Security hit the pause button on January 20th through a memo.

Tipton issued the TRO on January 6. It should have expired today, February 9th. He acknowledged concerns about his court issuing a TRO that covers the entire nation. But he said he must follow “the precedents of its Circuit.”

In one case, the Fifth Circuit said that “[i]t is not beyond the power of a court, in appropriate circumstances, to issue a nationwide injunction.” This included:

• A need for “uniformity” in regards to immigration policies across the board
• “Partial implementation” would cause a distraction from any “integrated scheme of regulation created by Congress.
• The court also thought “a substantial likelihood that a geographically-limited injunction would be ineffective because [illegal aliens] would be free to move among states.”

Tipton stated that the Fifth Circuit’s explanation fit the lawsuit against the Biden executive order:

• “The January 20 Memorandum’s 100-day pause plainly affects national immigration policy, which demands ‘uniformity.’”
• “Because the January 20 Memorandum’s 100-day pause impacts numerous statutes and agency regulations concerning removals and detention periods, its partial implementation would inevitably detract from Congress’s ‘integrated scheme of regulation.’”
• “Lastly, a geographically limited injunction of the January 20 Memorandum’s 100-day pause on removals would not effectively protect Texas’s interests because of the free flow of movement among the states.”

Tipton pointed out that those who are forced to leave “may migrate to Texas,” which old cause the state “irreparable harm.”

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