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(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge has extended the block on the Biden administration’s attempt to pause deportations.
When U.S. District Court Judge Drew Tipton initially put a hold on the deportation pause last month, it marked the first major legal setback for President Joe Biden, who has proposed sweeping changes to the immigration system. Biden has put forward a sprawling legislative proposal that includes a pathway to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants who would be otherwise be subject to deportation. Biden had also ordered a 100-day moratorium on deportations.
Lawyers for the administration argued the pause was needed to reassess U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement policies. But ICE recently announced it was adjusting those policies — despite the injunction against the pause — with new priorities for arrests and deportations. The directive to establish new enforcement priorities was made in Biden’s first week in office by Acting DHS Secretary David Pekoske.