A district judge, appointed by former President Donald Trump, has blocked President Joe Biden’s so-called “sanctuary country” orders that have successfully protected millions of illegal aliens from arrest and deportation over the last year.
On Tuesday, District Judge Michael J. Newman issued a preliminary injunction against Biden’s orders that prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from arresting and deporting most of the nation’s 11 to 22 million illegal aliens across the United States.
The orders were imposed in September 2021 after the Biden administration was successfully sued by Texas and Louisiana for implementing similar orders at the start of last year. The latest orders dictate that only illegal aliens deemed a “public safety threat” or a “national security threat” can be arrested and deported by ICE agents.
Newman sided with Arizona, Montana, and Ohio — the states that brought the lawsuit — in the case, ruling that the orders require the states to bear the brunt of financial costs to taxpayers associated with protecting illegal aliens.
Newman writes:
But the States have plausibly shown these costs have accrued, and will continue to do so, even if the priority shift generates some offsetting benefit. This financial impact is a “tangible” one. [Emphasis added]
In the District of Arizona litigation over the Interim Guidance, for example, Arizona identified noncitizens with criminal convictions who were placed on state supervision after DHS lifted their detainers under the Interim Guidance. A decrease in detention and removal of criminal aliens will invariably lead to similar results in Montana and Ohio. [Emphasis added]
An aggregate decline in removals will also cause the States to devote more emergency Medicaid and educational resources to noncitizens than they otherwise would have. [Emphasis added]
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich celebrated the preliminary injunction.
“This is a tremendous victory for the rule of law and the safety of our communities,” Brnovich said in a statement. “Since assuming office, the Biden administration has undermined our immigration laws and our law enforcement agencies, while empowering dangerous cartels and criminals on both sides of the border. I’m grateful for this ruling and for the partnership of Ohio and Montana as we work to reverse this catastrophic lawlessness.”
Dale Wilcox, director of the Immigration Reform Law Institute, applauded the ruling, saying that “there is a good reason the law says that aliens who turn out to be criminals should be removed.”
As Breitbart News reported, Biden’s orders helped gut interior immigration enforcement in Fiscal Year 2022, the latest ICE data reveals. Compared to 2019, arrests of illegal aliens have plummeted by nearly 50 percent, and deportations have dropped by nearly 80 percent.
Unreleased ICE data shows that the Biden administration arrested 48 percent fewer convicted criminal illegal aliens, conducted 63 percent fewer deportations for convicted criminal illegal aliens, and issued 46 percent fewer requests for ICE agents to take custody of criminal illegal aliens in the Fiscal Year 2021.
The case is Arizona v. Biden, 3:21-cv-314 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.