Texas takes its fight over Biden's border policies to judges appointed by Trump

Texas takes its fight over Biden's border policies to judges appointed by Trump¹

Transcript²

Texas is leading the legal challenge against the Biden administration's immigration policies — and winning. But critics accuse the state of "judge shopping" for appointees of former President Trump.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Texas is making another move in the battle over immigration. The Republican-led state government there has filed a series of lawsuits⁴ over border policy, and critics say they are steering⁵ these cases to judges appointed by former President Trump. NPR's Joel Rose reports.

JOEL ROSE, BYLINE⁶: The Texas attorney general announced his latest immigration lawsuit³ flanked by his Republican peers from nearly a dozen states.

(SOUNDBITE OF MONTAGE)

LESLIE RUTLEDGE: From the state of Arkansas, we see the impact of illegal immigration every...

JOHN O'CONNOR: This border crisis is so personal to the people of Oklahoma...

ASHLEY MOODY⁷: We are feeling the effects in Florida.

ROSE: They came for a self-described border summit last month hosted by Texas Attorney General Ken⁸ Paxton.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

KEN PAXTON: We have now filed a lawsuit with many of the states standing⁹ here with me today.

ROSE: This lawsuit is targeting a policy called the Central American Minors¹⁰ Program, which is intended to help at-risk children reunite with parents who are already in the U.S. The Biden administration says it creates a safe and legal path so that these families won't turn to smugglers to get their kids across the border. Paxton says it's illegal.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PAXTON: None of this has been authorized¹¹ by Congress, and it just increases the incentive¹² for people to come across our border illegally and violate federal law.

ROSE: Paxton held the press conference in the Rio Grande Valley near the U.S.-Mexico border, but the lawsuit was filed more than 700 miles away in Amarillo, where it was very likely to be heard by a judge appointed by former President Trump. Paxton has now filed at least six immigration lawsuits against the Biden administration, and they have mostly followed the same blueprint¹³.

STEPHEN VLADECK: Texas has basically deputized itself as the immigration enforcer.

ROSE: Stephen Vladeck teaches at the University of Texas School of Law. What's remarkable¹⁴ about these cases, he says, is where they are being filed - in parts of the state where there are few federal judges, often just one in a division. Vladeck says there is a name for this.

VLADECK: Texas is judge shopping. Texas is filing this lawsuit in Amarillo, in Lubbock, in Galveston, not in Austin, so that they can actually ensure that they get what, from Texas' perspective, is a friendly district judge.

ROSE: In its most recent lawsuit, Vladeck says Texas had bad luck, and the case was randomly¹⁵ assigned to another federal judge in Dallas who was appointed by Bill Clinton. But for the most part, the strategy has worked. One Trump appointee blocked President Biden's 100-day moratorium¹⁶ on deportations. Another ordered the administration to restart Remain in Mexico, the Trump-era policy that forced migrants to wait in dangerous border towns for their immigration court hearings. Ken Paxton and Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt hailed that ruling.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ERIC SCHMITT: We took Joe Biden all the way to the Supreme¹⁸ Court, and we won. That policy was working under President Trump.

ROSE: In some ways, this is similar to what Democratic AGs and immigrant advocates did during the Trump administration when they challenged his immigration policies in relatively¹⁹ liberal courts on the coasts. Those courts, too, issued nationwide injunctions, and that infuriated Trump officials, including then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who called it an absurd situation.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JEFF SESSIONS: A plaintiff only needs to win once to stop a national law from taking effect or a national policy. But the government needs to win every time to carry out its policies. That makes governing all but impossible.

ROSE: Even Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch complained. And the high court often sided with the Trump administration, blocking lower-court injunctions in several major immigration cases. But when the Biden administration asked for emergency relief in the recent Remain in Mexico case, the Supreme Court said no. That's a crucial difference, says Stephen Vladeck.

VLADECK: I think that was a harbinger of things to come and a sign that no one in Texas missed.

ROSE: Later this month, another Texas lawsuit is heading to trial. This one challenges the Biden administration's limits on who immigration authorities can arrest and deport¹⁷. They will be heard by the same Trump appointee who's already ruled against President Biden twice before.

Joel Rose, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF BLUE STEEL'S "DOUBLE AGENT")

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

4 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

5 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 moody   

adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的

参考例句：

• He relapsed into a moody silence.他又重新陷于忧郁的沉默中。
• I'd never marry that girl.She's so moody.我决不会和那女孩结婚的。她太易怒了。

8 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

9 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

10 minors   

n.未成年人( minor的名词复数 )；副修科目；小公司；[逻辑学]小前提v.[主美国英语]副修，选修，兼修( minor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors. 法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had three minors this semester. 这学期他有三门副修科目。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

12 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

13 blueprint   

n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划

参考例句：

• All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
• The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。

14 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

15 randomly   

adv.随便地，未加计划地

参考例句：

• Within the hot gas chamber, molecules are moving randomly in all directions. 在灼热的气体燃烧室内，分子在各个方向上作无规运动。 来自辞典例句
• Transformed cells are loosely attached, rounded and randomly oriented. 转化细胞则不大贴壁、圆缩并呈杂乱分布。 来自辞典例句

16 moratorium   

n.(行动、活动的)暂停(期)，延期偿付

参考例句：

• The government has called for a moratorium on weapons testing.政府已要求暂停武器试验。
• We recommended a moratorium on two particular kinds of experiments.我们建议暂禁两种特殊的实验。

17 deport   

vt.驱逐出境

参考例句：

• We deport aliens who slip across our borders.我们把偷渡入境的外国人驱逐出境。
• More than 240 England football fans are being deported from Italy following riots last night.昨晚的骚乱发生后有240多名英格兰球迷被驱逐出意大利。

18 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

19 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。