President Joe Biden sits in the oval office signing a stack of executive orders.

You may have seen some information on the news about President Biden initiating a ban on deportations for 100 days. We’ve also mentioned it in our previous blog post. This proposal came on January 22nd, and many of our clients and immigrant families across the United States were excited to hear the news.

This excitement was short-lived, however, when a Trump-appointed judge in Texas ruled to block Biden’s deportation freeze. This was the first major blow to President Biden’s immigration policy proposals. This challenge to Biden’s immigration related executive order may be the first of many. The new president has many progressive policies on the docket with his immigration plans, and we are sure there are more challenges to come.

So what does this mean for you? How are you affected, if at all, and what can you do?

All great questions – let’s see if we can answer them.

What happened on January 26th, 2021?

• A district court in Texas issued a nationwide restraining order on Biden’s 100-day deportation freeze. This means there is no freeze on deportations and those who were scheduled for deportation will have to continue that process.
• This restraining order will remain in effect until the judge issues another order.
• The judge claimed the 100-day deportation freeze was in violation of two (2) laws:

1. 1. A southern provisional law; and
   2. A law stating that agencies which carry out deportations need the time to explain why they are doing what it is they are doing (deporting people from the US).

How can the Biden Administration avoid these types of challenges now and in the future?

It’s possible. Anyone working on the orders will need to add in language that justifies why these orders are being made. This is to counteract a claim that the judge made – that the orders violated the Administrative Procedures Act and was not justified. The White House team needs to be careful when issuing orders in the future to avoid these types of challenges. It can be done, although we know already that it won’t be easy to avoid litigation from the courts as we have just seen.

Be sure to keep an eye on this developing story. In the upcoming weeks, we will see what the takeaway from this will be. We will also see how it will effect future executive orders from the new administration moving forward. Check our blog to see any developing news on this issue and be sure to contact us if you have any questions or concerns about this or any other matter. You can give us at our Pittsburgh office at 412.258.8080, our Philadelphia office at 215-982-2381, or schedule a free consultation on our site using this link.