A federal appeals court decided to delay the deportation of seven undocumented immigrants, asking the Obama administration to re-evaluate their cases. The seven people were ordered to be deported even though they did not have criminal records. Their cases, along with potentially many others, have come under scrutiny since the Obama administration issued a discretion policy in illegal immigration deportation cases.

The court delaying the deportation of these immigrants could impact thousands of illegal immigrant deportation cases. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been reviewing over 300,000 pending deportation cases and has focused on deporting immigrants with criminal records or those who pose a threat to national security.

The recent court ruling may lead to an increase in appeals by immigrants who feel they fit the criteria for the discretion policy. ICE officials and the Department of Justice said they are reviewing the ruling to see how they should proceed with deportation cases.

When the discretion policy was issued last summer, ICE issued a memo which detailed the policy and what circumstances could allow an immigrant to stay in the U.S. Some of those factors include how long the immigrant has been in the U.S., the immigrant's criminal history and if he or she is a student.

There are an estimated 1.6 million deportation cases, according to immigration authorities. In addition to the 300,000 cases currently under review, the total 1.6 million cases include cases where final deportation has been ordered, cases not considered active and cases for immigrant fugitives.

The deportation case reviews were issued to try and decrease the backlog of pending deportation cases and allow the department to focus on deporting criminals and those who posed risks to the country, said the Homeland Security Secretary.

Originally, illegal immigrants without criminal records, those who repeatedly violated immigration laws and those considered immigration fugitives could still face deportation. However, the federal appeals court ruling will likely change the way deportation cases are reviewed and decided.

Source: Fox News, "Court ruling could prompt more deportation reviews," Feb. 10, 2012