AG Reyes Opposes Activist Federal Immigration Rule

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH - Attorney General Sean D. Reyes joined 14 attorneys general on a Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the Supreme Court of the United States in Kansas v. Mayorkas. The coalition, led by the State of Florida, requests that the nation's high court hear arguments in a question of a legal right of intervention to defend a federal immigration rule.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security published an immigration rule in February 2023 to "expand access to regular pathways for migrants and refugees into the United States." The rule, in part, provided that asylum applicants must apply for status in the U.S. through the CBP One app, and remain in Mexico until their case was greenlighted by American immigration authorities. Hostile interest groups challenged the rule, which the Biden Administration was forced to defend through arguments in the district court. However, after arguments in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the plaintiffs and the government asked the Court to stay the case while they pursued settlement discussions. A Kansas-led coalition of states sought to intervene to defend the rule, but were blocked by the appeals court over a strong dissent by Circuit Judge VanDyke.

In their amicus brief in support of the Kansas-led coalition, the attorneys general argue that "whether states may intervene when the federal government threatens to abdicate the defense of a rule in which states are interested is a question of national significance," and the petitioning States meet the requirements for intervention [because] the Ninth Circuit misapprehended the States' interests and flouted this Court's decision in Cameron and misapplied United States v. Texas."

Referencing past sue-and-settle abuses, the States explained that "[b]y abruptly signaling that it may surrender to its ideological allies in abandoning the rule's defense, the [Biden Administration] threatened to repeat similar behavior here. The Ninth Circuit wrongly denied the States the opportunity to intervene to vindicate their clear interest in preventing such gamesmanship."

Joining Utah and Florida on the brief were the States of Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming.

Read the brief here.