The Biden administration on Monday asked the Supreme Court to cancel upcoming arguments on two cases important to former president Donald Trump: a funding dispute over the border wall and a policy requiring asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their claims are considered.
Acting solicitor general Elizabeth B. Prelogar told the court that President Biden has stopped construction of the wall and announced a review of the asylum program, called the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP).
Until those reviews are completed, she said, the court should suspend consideration of the lawsuits. The border wall case, now called Biden v. Sierra Club, is scheduled for argument Feb. 22. The immigration case is now called Pekoske v. Innovation Law Lab — David Pekoske is acting homeland security secretary — and is scheduled for March 1.
Biden orders a ‘pause’ on border wall construction, bringing crews to halt
The request from Prelogar was expected — when the cases were granted last October, they seemed likely to become moot if Biden was elected because he was opposed to both. But it is the first official action at the Supreme Court to show the effects of the change in administration.