Supreme Court ruling allows Biden admin to adopt immigration policy that prioritizes public safety

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the Biden administration can adopt an immigration enforcement policy that will allow it to prioritize public safety threats. 

The justices voted 8-1 to overturn a Texas-based federal judge’s ruling in June of last year which blocked the policy nationwide. It was previously in effect for less than a year.

In light of the abundance of illegal immigrants in the country, the administration had sought to require an individual assessment of an immigrant's threat to national security or public safety to help it prioritize deportations. The states had argued the plan violated federal law requiring that illegal immigrants convicted of certain serious crimes be detained after leaving criminal custody.

In a ruling authored by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, it said the challengers didn't have legal standing to sue over the plan, according to NBC News. 

In regard to the lawsuit brought by Texas and Louisiana, Kavanaugh wrote that it was "extraordinarily unusual," seeking to "order the executive branch to alter its arrest policies so as to make more arrests."

Texas and Louisiana challenged Biden's 2021 immigration plan in court which allowed more illegal immigrants to stay in the country, citing that the U.S. did not have the resources to deport them all. 

This was a different take from the Trump administration, which had a more strict stance on illegal immigration. 

Texas and Louisiana argued in court that federal immigration law requires that certain illegal immigrants who have been convicted of aggravated felonies, gun crimes and human trafficking have to be detained after they are released from criminal custody.