WASHINGTON, Aug 20 (Reuters) - A U.S. Supreme Court justice on Friday temporarily blocked a lower court ruling that would require Democratic President Joe Biden to reinstate a contentious immigration policy implemented by his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump.The brief order by conservative Justice Samuel Alito puts the litigation on hold while the high court considers how to handle the Biden administration's request seeking to impose a longer-term block on the judge's ruling that would require the government to revive the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program.
The Biden administration turned to the Supreme Court after the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late on Thursday denied a government request to delay the effective date of the lower court judge's ruling a week earlier.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk "requires the government to abruptly reinstate a broad and controversial immigration enforcement program that has been formally suspended for seven months and largely dormant for nearly nine months before that," Acting Solicitor General Brian Fletcher wrote in papers to the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, including three justices appointed by Trump.
The Justice Department wants the court to act immediately, with the judge's injunction due to go into effect on Saturday.