Texas judge renews restraining order, extends Biden deportation freeze ban for 14 days

A federal judge in Texas announced at a hearing Jan. 29 that the court will extend the Biden administration’s deportation freeze for an additional two weeks.

Federal District Judge Drew Tipton of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas announced Jan. 29 that he will extend the 14-day temporary restraining order that barred Biden’s deportation freeze from taking effect on Jan. 26 for an additional 14 days so the court can have enough Time to hear the case, according to local media outlet American Statesman in Austin, Texas.

Judge Tipton said he needed time to understand why the Trump administration reached a written agreement with Texas officials late last year requiring the federal government to give the state 180 days advance notice of any changes to Texas’ policy on deportation of illegal immigrants, and why Texas prosecutors believe the Biden Administration‘s deportation freeze order led to the escape of Texas felons.

Biden issued a memorandum on his first day in office on Jan. 20, freezing the Trump Administration‘s deportation order for illegal immigrants, which took effect on Jan. 22. On the same day the law took effect, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton took the Biden administration’s Department of Homeland Security to court over the memo.

The Texas lawsuit states that the Biden administration’s deportation freeze fails to comply with the U.S. Constitution and violates the federal government’s written agreement with Texas late last year by failing to provide 180 days’ notice to the Texas government and to consult with Texas and other relevant states.

The prosecution condemned the implementation of the deportation freeze order as seriously jeopardizing the security of the state’s immigration enforcement and affecting the enforcement of the state’s existing laws, resulting in the retention of criminals in the territory.

A report by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) shows that if the deportation freeze takes effect as scheduled, U.S. immigration officials will be unable to deport 85 percent of illegal immigrants, including sex offenders, domestic violence offenders, fraud offenders and other felons.

Jessica Vaughan, author of the CIS report, said, “Essentially, this memo is an attempt to repeal immigration enforcement.”