Supreme Court Lets Administration Restrict Closing Deportation Cases

The Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for the Trump administration to limit a Biden-era policy that lets immigration judges close deportation cases rather than rule on them. The court's unsigned opinion did not explain why the appeal was rejected.

Roughly 360,000 migrants have received administrative closure since 1990, according to government statistics. The Biden administration codified the practice in 2024. The cases are closed but not dismissed, which means they can be reopened. Immigration advocates say judges use the procedure to ease caseloads in strained immigration courts and to spare some migrants, including crime victims and neglected juveniles, from removal proceedings when they have a strong case for staying in the United States. Critics call it a form of backdoor amnesty.

The first Trump administration tried to bar judges from using administrative closure. When Trump returned to office last year, his administration said it would no longer defend the Biden-era policy. Texas then challenged the rule in federal court there. The Justice Department told the judge it supported a judgment favoring Texas, and the judge entered a permanent injunction blocking the policy.

Baltimore; Columbus, Ohio; and New Haven, Connecticut, along with an immigrant rights' group, sought to intervene in the case to defend the Biden rule. Courts denied those requests, and the groups appealed to the Supreme Court.