周五，三座由民主党人执政的城市宣布，它们已请求最高法院恢复一项此前因得克萨斯州与特朗普政府达成协议而被叫停的移民法规。这些城市指责得克萨斯州与特朗普政府存在“严重的勾结行为”。今年6月，得克萨斯州就该拜登时期的法规提起诉讼。同一天，特朗普政府承认该法规违法，随后法官迅速下达命令，在全国范围内暂停该法规的实施。
Three Democratic-controlled cities on Friday said they asked the Supreme Court to revive an immigration regulation blocked under a deal struck by Texas and the Trump administration, accusing them of “egregious collusion.”Texas sued over the Biden-era regulation in June. On the same day, the administration conceded it was unlawful, and a judge quickly entered an order halting implementation nationwide. The cities — Baltimore; Columbus, Ohio; and New Haven, Conn. — alongside a legal aid group have been looking to intervene in the litigation to defend the regulation, but lower courts turned them away.
这三座城市分别是巴尔的摩、俄亥俄州哥伦布市以及康涅狄格州纽黑文市，它们与一个法律援助组织试图介入这场诉讼以维护该法规的效力，但下级法院均予以驳回。如今，它们只能向最高法院寻求紧急救济。这些城市在申请书中写道：“本案体现了此类现象的一种极其恶劣的新表现形式。政府不仅利用一场有利的败诉来撤销相关行政举措，还事先声明不会为不受其青睐的法规辩护，并在诉讼发起之初便与起诉方勾结。”
It leaves them seeking emergency relief from the justices. “This case involves an egregious new extension of this phenomenon,” the cities wrote in their application. “The government did not merely leverage a convenient loss to undo agency action, but rather, announced in advance that it would not defend a disfavored regulation and then colluded with the challenger from the moment that suit was filed.”
该诉讼的核心争议点在于所谓的“行政结案机制”——该机制赋予移民法官将某些影响较小的案件从审理日程中移除的权力，以提高办案效率或出于其他考量。这些城市强调，这一机制能让那些无人照料的未成年人暂时搁置自身案件，以便寻求救助。这一做法多年来一直以某种形式存在，但得克萨斯州的诉讼主张称，拜登时期的法规大幅扩大了该机制的适用范围，实际上相当于赋予相关人员无限期留在美国的资格。
The underlying case concerns administrative closure, which gives immigration judges authority to remove certain low-profile cases from their calendars to promote docket efficiency or for other reasons. The cities emphasize that, for example, it allows neglected juveniles to pause their cases as they seek relief. The practice had existed in some form for years, but Texas’s suit said the Biden-era regulation “drastically expands” it to effectively give people indefinite permission to remain in the country.
特朗普政府也支持这一立场，并放弃为该法规辩护。美国司法部在提交给下级法院的文件中指出：“但若允许移民法官随意决定无限期搁置案件——这种搁置往往持续数十年甚至永久——将违背国会的立法意图。”这些城市与法律援助组织“Centro Legal de la Raza”均由“民主前进基金会”代理出庭。
It’s a position supported by the Trump administration, which abandoned defending the regulation. “But allowing immigration judges to exercise discretion by pausing a case indefinitely— often for decades, if not forever—would subvert Congress’s directive,” the Justice Department wrote to a lower court in the case. The cities and the legal aid group — Centro Legal de la Raza — are represented by Democracy Forward Foundation.
该组织已针对特朗普政府提起了数十起诉讼，成为在法庭上最积极挑战总统施政纲领的团体之一。该组织指出，德克萨斯州与司法部并非对立双方，下级法院本不应受理双方的协议。“对立性要求绝非流于形式，”该组织在向最高法院提交的紧急申诉中写道。这一请求现由负责处理德克萨斯州相关紧急事务的大法官塞缪尔·阿利托负责处理。他既可单独作出决定，也可将案件提交全体大法官投票表决。
The group has filed dozens of lawsuits against the Trump administration, becoming one of the most prolific litigators challenging the president’s agenda in court. It says Texas and the Justice Department weren’t adverse parties and the lower courts shouldn’t have entertained their deal. “The adversity requirement is not a formality,” they wrote in their Supreme Court emergency appeal. The cities’ request goes to Justice Samuel Alito, who handles emergency matters arising from Texas by default. He could act alone or refer it to the full court for a vote.