1、CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebari i The Biden Administrations Immigration Enforcement Priorities: Background and Legal Considerations Updated December 10, 2021 Almost immediately after taking office, President Biden issued a series of direc
2、tives on immigration matters. Some of these directives focused on altering the immigration enforcement priorities of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the agency primarily charged with the enforcement of federal immigration laws. Federal statute confers immigration authorities with “broad d
3、iscretion” to determine when it is appropriate to pursue the removal of a non-U.S. national (“alien” under federal law) who lacks a legal basis to remain in the country. Resource or humanitarian concerns have typically led authorities to prioritize enforcement actions against subsets of the removabl
4、e population (e.g., those who have committed certain crimes or pose national security risks). The Trump Administration made enforcement a touchstone of its immigration policy, and generally sought to enforce federal immigration laws against a broader range of aliens who had committed immigration vio