Topeka, KS– Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to deny the Biden administration’s request to stay a lower court ruling that prohibits the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from implementing new lax immigration enforcement policies.

Schmidt joined a coalition of 19 states in filing an amicus brief this week with the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Texas v. United States. The case centers on new Permanent Guidance issued by DHS that halts nearly all arrests and deportations, even for those individuals convicted of crimes, and drastically ties the hands of immigration officers.

A federal district court in Texas in June vacated the administration’s new guidance, which would have allowed more immigrants to remain in the United States unlawfully. Schmidt and the state attorneys general argue that the United States has seen dramatic increases in unlawful immigration, placing burdens on the states to accommodate the influx.

This court filing is the latest effort by Schmidt to push back on the Biden administration’s effort to roll back and relax immigration policies and enforcement without consideration of the rule of law and impact on states.

Earlier this year, Schmidt joined litigation challenging the administration’s plan to stop enforcing the Title 42 policy, which restricted immigration during the pandemic to reduce the spread of disease. He also has challenged new Biden policies that would have dramatically altered the asylum process by taking the decisions out of the hands of immigration judges and give the decision to DHS asylum officers.

A copy of the states’ brief filed this week in Texas v. United States can be found at https://bit.ly/3RyYlAD.