Attorney General Ken Paxton
Attorney General Paxton filed a brief in the United States Supreme Court opposing the Department of Justice’s request to stay a district court order vacating the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) September 2021 Immigration Prioritization Memorandum. Federal law requires DHS to detain certain aliens who have committed crimes and aliens with final orders of removal, but DHS’s Memorandum ignores those requirements.
In an earlier win for the State of Texas, the district court vacated DHS’s Memorandum, concluding that it violated the Administrative Procedure Act because it was contrary to law, arbitrary and capricious, and procedurally invalid. Despite the Biden Administration’s efforts, the New Orleans-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit declined to stay that ruling. The Supreme Court should also deny the request of a stay pending appeal.
“President Biden implemented unlawful immigration priorities, allowing illegal aliens convicted of dangerous felonies to be released back into our country despite Congress’s clear instructions,” Attorney General Paxton said. “I have urged the Supreme Court to put a stop to this in order to protect Texas’s communities.”
To read a copy of the brief click here.
