The U.S. Supreme Court today upheld President Biden’s move to end President Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy for some immigrants seeking asylum, and Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey responded by blasting the Biden administration’s decision as detrimental.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the decision, approved 5-4 by the justices, the Associated Press reported. Joining Roberts were Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor.
Dissenting were Justices Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, and Clarence Thomas.
“The Biden Administration’s decision to end President Trump’s Remain in Mexico policy is contributing to the full-blown crisis at the Southern Border and is having devastating effects on both U.S. citizens and migrants,” Ivey said in a press release. “This was reasonable, good policy, and ending this policy only exacerbates the problem, plain and simple.
“(The Department of Homeland Security) does not have the capacity to detain the massive flow of individuals, and instead of choosing this clearly effective and legal option, they are releasing these people all across the country. Where the federal government has refused to secure the Southern Border, states like Texas, Alabama and our neighbors have stepped up to provide resources. We will continue our fight to demand action from our government.”
According to AP, the pivotal issue is whether immigration authorities, who do not have enough facilities to detain asylum-seekers, must send them back to Mexico or can instead release them into the United States while they await their hearings.
Biden suspended the Trump policy on his first day in office. Lower courts ordered immigration officials to reinstate the policy after Texas and Missouri filed lawsuits challenging the Biden decision. But the Biden administration has sent far fewer people back to Mexico than its predecessor, AP reported.
Read more about the decision today in this story from NPR.
