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Welcome to logoff: Today, federal judges have banned President Donald Trump from using wartime powers laws to quickly remove people from the country, derailing most of the deportation agenda, kicking off a legal battle that could lead to another showdown between the administration and the courts.
What is the context? Trump in March called out the alien enemy law of 1798, saying that he needed the right to deport China during the war as Venezuelan gangs invaded the United States. The administration used the law to bypass due process hearings as it sent dozens of men to Salvador's prisons. (The administration has said that all men are gang members, but in many cases those accusations are challenged.)
But today, Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. – appointed by Trump in his first term – ruled that the president was misusing the law. The judge said gang activities do not meet the legal definition of “aggression.”
How does this ruling differ from other immigrant decisions? Other rulings limit what the administration can do under the alien enemy declaration, but did not control the legality of invoking the act itself. This would undermine a major part of the administration's efforts to expedite mass deportations if supported more widely.
What's next? For now, the ruling only applies to his South Texas area, where many immigrants are in custody. But the administration is sure to challenge this ruling, and send it to the High Court, where the ruling is more widely held. The first destination is the very Trump-friendly 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, but you could get the ultimate answer from the Supreme Court.
What's after that? If the Supreme Court breaks down Trump's use of law, it would set up a showdown between two equal branches of the government as the administration avoided previous immigration court orders and the court argued that Trump's powers were limited over foreign policy decisions.
And so, it's time to log off…
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