This week in immigration news – January 28, 2021

Biden weighs putting an end to private immigration detention facilities

On the campaign trail, President Biden promised to halt the use of private prisons to detain undocumented immigrants. While sources say that the president is considering an executive order related to the use of private detention facilities, and the White House has said that there will be ‘action related to the detention of undocumented migrants,’ advocates are skeptical about how far Biden’s orders will go in addressing the issue.

Judge temporarily blocks Biden’s plan to halt deportations

Judge Drew Tipton, a judge in the Southern District of Texas, halted President Biden’s moratorium on deportations for two weeks following a lawsuit by the Texas Attorney General, citing an agreement that was made between Texas and the federal government at the tail end of the Trump administration requiring the federal government to consult the state before altering immigration policies.

Biden’s immigration changes too late for grandfather deported on Inauguration Day

The same day Biden was inaugurated, Felipe Ortega, who has lived in the United States for 30 years, was deported. Ortega had no criminal record but was deported under former President Trump’s immigration policy that made all immigrants—regardless of whether they had a criminal record—priorities for deportation.

Justice Department Rescinds Trump’s ‘Zero Tolerance’ Immigration Policy

President Biden’s Justice Department moved quickly to officially rescind the Trump administration’s previous “zero-tolerance policy” that ripped apart families and children after they crossed the border. Although the move was largely symbolic, given the fact that the Trump administration ceased carrying out the policy in 2018, it is part of a broader suite of immigration actions that Biden has taken to roll back policies from the Trump administration.