Federal judge in Houston indefinitely blocks Biden’s 100-day deportation pause

Judge said Biden administration's moratorium violated federal law on administrative procedure, U.S. failed to show why pause justified.
As immigration courts have been closed due to the coronavirus, COVID-19, pandemic people seeking asylum in Migrant Protection Protocols program, better known as the "Remain in Mexico" policy, are still expected to show up in the dangerous city centre before dawn to receive new dates despite stay-at-home order on both sides of the border.

A federal judge in Houston late Tuesday banned the Biden administration from enforcing a 100-day moratorium on most deportations. 

U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton issued a preliminary injunction sought by Texas that argued that the moratorium violated federal law and risked imposing additional costs on the state, according to the Associated Press.

The judge's injunction issued indefinitely extends a temporary restraining order he issued Jan. 26 that was set to expire Tuesday.

Biden proposed the 100-day pause on deportations during his campaign as part of a larger plan for on immigration enforcement and as an attempt to reverse former Trump administration priorities.

In issuing the temporary restraining order last month, Tipton, a Trump appointee, ruled the moratorium violated federal law on administrative procedure and that the U.S. failed to show why a deportation pause was justified, the wire service also reports.