Solicitor General's Merits Brief in DHS v. D.V.D. Adds No Questions, Leads With Jurisdiction, and Asks the Court to Let the Policy Stand

The United States filed its merits brief in Department of Homeland Security v. D.V.D. on Oct 23 2026. The Court’s grant had invited the Government to add other questions it considered appropriate; the brief says “no additional questions warrant briefing here,” so the case goes to argument on Wednesday, December 9, 2026 on the three questions the Court framed: jurisdiction, the statutory limit on classwide declaratory relief and APA vacatur, and the lawfulness of the March 2025 third-country Guidance.

The brief puts jurisdiction ahead of the merits. It says the lower courts “improperly disregarded all of those jurisdictional bars by inventing atextual limitations” and argues that the statutory limit on classwide relief reaches both the declarations and the vacatur. Only then does it defend the Guidance under the removal statute, the CAT regulations and due process. It tells the Court that “stayed three attempts” by lower courts to halt the policy are already behind it, and asks the Court to let the policy stand.

Respondents’ brief is due Monday, November 16, 2026 and the reply on Tuesday, December 1, 2026. The Court’s stay means the Guidance stays in effect for the whole certified class while the case is briefed (2026-09-29–scotus-stays-dvd-judgment-grants-cert-third-country-removals).