Supreme Court won't pause ruling on closing deportation cases
Immigration judges still cannot shelve deportation proceedings. The court gave no reason, and the fight continues in the Fifth Circuit.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday turned down a request from the cities of Baltimore, New Haven and Columbus, and the group Centro Legal de la Raza, to suspend a ruling that wiped out "administrative closure" in deportation cases.
Administrative closure let an immigration judge set a case aside without deciding it, for example while a person pursued another legal status. Judges still cannot do that.
The docket, numbered 26A500, says only that the application "is denied." It gives no reasoning and notes no dissents.
How it got here
The challengers went to the justices on Oct. 9, after the Fifth Circuit declined to pause U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor's ruling in Texas while they appeal. The application went to Justice Samuel Alito, who asked for responses. The federal government and Texas answered on Oct. 22, and the challengers replied the next day.
The rule allowing closures dates to 2024. Texas challenged it, and the Trump administration, rather than defend it, joined the state in asking that it be declared unlawful. The challengers call that arrangement collusion.
Tuesday's order does not settle the underlying dispute. The appeal goes on in the Fifth Circuit, under case number 26-10794.
What it means for Mexicans
Cases that had been shelved can return to immigration court calendars, and new ones can no longer be paused this way. For Mexicans with pending cases in the United States, that could mean earlier hearings and deportation orders that had been on hold.
The docket does not say how many cases were closed or what nationalities they involve. The Fifth Circuit's decision on the appeal is next.
