In December 2022, the Supreme Court heard the latest iteration of a case styled as United States v. Texas. This dispute concerned the Biden Administration's 2021 memorandum that "prioritized" immigration enforcement. (I'll get into the details later). The trial court found that Texas had standing, and vacated the policy. The Fifth Circuit declined to stay an injunction. The Supreme Court granted certiorari before judgment.
After oral argument, my prediction was that the final vote would be very fragmented. A majority of the Court seemed inclined to rule against Texas, but there was no obvious consensus on why the states lacked standing. Moreover, several Justices seemed uncomfortable with the argument pressed by the Solicitor General that Section 706 of the APA did not support so-called "national vacaturs."
The Court decided this case on Friday. The bottom line is that eight justices ruled against Texas, and only Justice Alito would have affirmed the lower court. But the majority really fractured 5-3. Justices Gorsuch, Thomas, and Barrett found that the plaintiffs lack standing on redressability grounds. They contended that 8 U. S. C. § 1252(f)(1) prohibits injunctions against certain immigration laws, including those at issue in this case. Because the Court couldn't remedy the alleged injuries, the concurring justices found, the Court lacked jurisdiction. But Justice Kavanaugh, writing for the Court, did not rely on redressability. Instead, he found that the plaintiff states did not have a "judicially cognizable" injury–the sort of injury that the federal courts "traditionally" have recognized.
