On Thursday, March 4th, the Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to dismiss three lawsuits over Trump-era immigration policy.
What We Know:
- The lawsuits were issued last year after local governments in select states allowed “sanctuary” policies that behaved as a roadblock for federal immigration officers. The policy was originally apart of an effort to get local police departments to cooperate with federal authorities whenever noncitizens were about to be released from custody. For example, states like New York have put laws in place that prohibit the sharing of information with immigration officials.
- Advocates of “sanctuary cities” and their laws believe that they make communities safer by encouraging undocumented victims of crime to cooperate with the police. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued federal detainer requests to local police departments in major cities.
- The request asked police and sheriff’s offices to hold inmates for up to 48 hours after completing their initial sentence. The policy applied to undocumented citizens convicted of committing local crimes and could deport them after being released.
- The Justice Department wished to withhold federal grants from any local government that refused to tell immigration agents when people in their custody were about to be released. Another detail of the policy was that the government requested access to local jails so immigration agents could question noncitizens in custody. It is apparent that the Justice Department has new goals, as they are no longer enforcing the policy and asking that their lawsuits be dismissed.
Moreover, it also appears as though Trump’s enforcement of the immigration policy is over now that the Biden administration is in office.
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