Washington, DC – The following is a statement from David Leopold, America’s Voice legal advisor, past president, American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and Immigration Group Leader, Ulmer & Berne LLP reacting to the Supreme Court’s ruling in the United States v Texas immigration case.
“This is a victory for common sense over chaos and a blow against Republicans’ reliance on the anti-immigrant judicial pipeline.
For the past three years, Republican Governors and Attorneys General, led by the recently impeached Ken Paxton from Texas, have tried to take control of the federal immigration system. In United States v Texas, their goal was to overrule the common sense immigration enforcement policies established by DHS and reiterated by past Congressional lawmaking. Today, the United States Supreme Court slammed the door on Republicans’ efforts in an 8-1 decision written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
The Court ruled that the plaintiffs, Texas and Louisiana, did not have standing to bring their suit to block the Biden administration’s common sense enforcement guidelines. As Kavanaugh wrote, “this Court’s precedents and longstanding historical practice establish that the States’ suit here is not the kind redressable by a federal court.” That should have been obvious to anyone focused on the law, not the politics.
To be clear, this case should never have gotten this far. But, Paxton utilized what we call the “anti-immigrant judicial pipeline.” He knew Federal District Court Judge Drew Tipton, a Trump appointee, would be a reliable ally. Plus, he could count on the Fifth Circuit to uphold whatever Tipton decided. This was just another anti-immigrant political ploy masquerading as a lawsuit.
Fortunately, in this case, the Supreme Court shut down their pipeline. At a time when Republicans are relying on the pipeline to block or obstruct every sensible immigration policy – from DACA to new legal pathways – we hope today’s ruling is a signal that on immigration, judges should follow the law and not impose their own politics.”
