The Radical Reading Room

The Supreme Court on Tuesday, Oct. 27, declined to pause a lower-court order blocking a Biden-era immigration regulation. The justices rejected an emergency request from Baltimore, Columbus, Ohio, and New Haven, Connecticut, and a nonprofit seeking to stop an agreement between Texas and the Trump administration that set the rule aside. The court gave no explanation for its decision.

The regulation, known as administrative closure, allowed immigration judges to temporarily pause deportation proceedings. The pauses could give immigrants time to pursue humanitarian protections or other forms of legal status in the United States. The cities and their nonprofit ally sought to defend the policy after a judge rejected their request to join the case.

Texas sued the federal government over the rule, arguing that it allowed some immigrants to remain in the country indefinitely. The Justice Department later aligned with Texas in seeking to set the regulation aside. A federal judge entered an order blocking the rule, and the cities then sought to intervene and challenge that outcome. Their emergency request asked the Supreme Court to pause the order while the case continued through the appeals process.

The applicants said the policy helped people seeking lawful immigration relief, including those pursuing humanitarian protections. The Justice Department urged the Supreme Court to reject their request, arguing that they had not shown immediate or irreparable harm. Texas also argued against pausing the order. Tuesday’s decision leaves the lower-court block in effect; it does not restore the regulation while the appeal proceeds.