Biden administration issues a new enforcement priorities memo

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas issues new civil immigration enforcement guidelines directing ICE to shift from categorical detention approaches to individualized totality-of-circumstances review. The memo reduces detention priorities to recent arrivals, national security threats, and criminals. This represents a policy reversal from the Trump administration's zero-tolerance and enhanced enforcement regimes. However, the statutory framework for mandatory detention remains unchanged, limiting the executive's ability to override §236(c) categorical requirements. The memo attempts to restore discretionary detention review but is constrained by IIRIRA's categorical mandate structure.