High Court Puts Off Wall, Asylum Cases at Biden’s Request

Published by Nikki Palmer on Sun, 02/07/2021 - 3:00am

An incomplete secondary wall stands alongside the previous version near where the border separating Tijuana, Mexico, and San Diego meets the Pacific Ocean Jan. 19, 2021, in Tijuana, Mexico. In the days before Joe Biden became president, construction crews worked quickly to finish Donald Trump’s wall at an iconic cross-border park overlooking the Pacific Ocean that then-first lady Pat Nixon inaugurated in 1971 as symbol of international friendship. (AP)

The Associated Press

Washington – The Supreme Court agreed to requests from the Biden administration last Wednesday to put off arguments in two cases involving the U.S.-Mexico border wall and asylum-seekers because President Joe Biden has taken steps to change Trump administration policies that had been challenged in court.

The justices issued a brief order canceling arguments that had been set for the coming weeks. The court had been scheduled to hear arguments on Feb. 22 in a case over President Donald Trump’s decision to divert billions of dollars in taxpayer money to construction of portions of a wall along the border with Mexico.

Biden ordered a pause in construction and rescinded the national emergency that Trump declared to facilitate the transfer of money to the border.

The court also put off arguments that were to take place on March 1 over the Trump policy that forced asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for U.S. court hearings. Biden has suspended the so-called remain in Mexico policy for new arrivals and ordered a review of the policy.