While all eyes have rightly been on legislative relief efforts, Texas and others have been active in their quest to keep the Trump immigration agenda in place:

Remain in Mexico and Title 42:
Despite a new memo to get rid of Remain in Mexico (also known as MPP), the Biden administration’s November 15 compliance report to a Texas federal court continues to state that they are preparing to implement the disastrous program in the coming weeks. Implementation could be difficult, however: An increasing number of legal service providers have made clear that meaningful access to counsel is impossible under the program, with some providers refusing to be added to a list of pro bono attorneys for the program. The Biden administration is also making an attempt to get rid of the initial court mandate to restart the program after Secretary Mayorkas penned a new memo attempting to rescind the Remain in Mexico program for good. Oral argument on the United States’ appeal of the original court ruling requiring them to take steps to restart the MPP program as well as the United States’ argument that the court should alter the original court order in light of the second Mayorkas memo to end MPP took place before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on November 2.

Dueling court battles continue on Title 42. Those supporting an end to Title 42 filed amicus briefs last week providing damning evidence about the program in support of plaintiffs in Huisha Huisha v. Mayorkas, the lawsuit brought by ACLU, the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, RAICES, and others to challenge the government’s practice of expelling families and children under Title 42. You can learn more about the amicus brief Justice Action Center filed with Haitian Bridge Alliance and others here.

One final note: Gene Hamilton, known as one of the architects of Trump’s failed attempt to get rid of DACA, won the right to stay on as counsel in another Texas case challenging some of the Biden administration’s exceptions to Title 42. Hamilton now forms part of America First Legal, Stephen Miller’s post-White House venture.

DACA
Don’t forget to submit organizational or individual comments to the Biden administration’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on DACA. The deadline to submit comments is coming up at the end of the month, so don’t delay!

Thanks for reading,
Dan