The Biden administration urged the Supreme Court on Tuesday to revive guidelines narrowing enforcement priorities for immigration agents, arguing the Department of Homeland Security doesn’t receive enough funding from Congress to operate without them.
At an oral argument that lasted more than two hours, the justices grappled with several legal issues surrounding a challenge to guidance signed by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas meant to focus the department’s limited resources.
But the questions often veered into what to do with a lower court order that struck down the guidelines, finding they conflict with parts of the immigration statute and illegally substitute the administration’s preferences for those required by law.
