On August 19, 2021, a federal district judge issued a preliminary injunction that blocked, the Biden administration’s prioritization of enforcement action against those who are threats to national security or public safety. In response, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) suspended reliance on a May 27, 2021, OPLA memorandum, “Interim Guidance to OPLA Attorneys Regarding Civil Immigration Enforcement and Removal Policies and Priorities.”
According to reports, the judge’s action upends the hope that many employees and others around the country had to reopen their removal orders under the Biden prosecutorial discretion policy, and OPLA offices nationwide are not considering prosecutorial discretion requests. ICE said that questions from noncitizens and their legal representatives about OPLA’s exercise of prosecutorial discretion in individual cases should be referred to local OPLA offices.
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