U.S. Supreme Court Gives President Trump Early Win

The U.S. Supreme Court gave President Trump an early win in the ongoing saga of the mass deportations of Venezuelan criminals. On the surface that might sound like a big victory for President Trump – and both conservative and liberal media are hailing it as such. But the victory is not as clear-cut when you break down the ruling.

Let’s review the facts of the case. We told you last month that a federal judge put a temporary restraining order (TRO) in place to stop President Trump from sending 200 Venezuelan gang members who are illegal immigrants to an El Salvadorian prison. The Trump Administration ignored the ruling, insisting that it was allowed to remove the criminals by invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. Trump asserted, “This is war,” because of the grave dangers posed by the southern border.

However, since the Venezuelans were being held in custody in Texas, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal judge in D.C. did not have jurisdiction to block the Trump Administration from mass deportations, and the plaintiffs would need to go through the proper federal court to have the deportation order reviewed.

So the TRO has been vacated, and the Trump Administration can start deporting criminal migrants again. At the same time, the plaintiffs can have the deportation order reviewed if they go through a federal court in Texas. So the deportation saga is far from over, and the Supreme Court will likely review the case once again, assuming the far Left goes through the proper legal venue.

Essentially, the Supreme Court said that they view TROs as something the Administration can appeal. In other words, a judge can’t block an Executive order for a set time without any chance of the Administration appealing. But one caveat to the start-up of deportations again is that all nine Justices agreed that the issue is subject to judicial review. In contrast, the Trump Administration has been arguing that there is no judicial review under the Alien Enemies Act.

ACLJ Senior Counsel and Director of Policy Harry Hutchison explained the Supreme Court’s narrow ruling on the federal judge’s TRO:

Another term that obviously is at the crux of this is habeas corpus. . . . [The plaintiffs] originally filed a habeas petition in Texas and then removed that. They dismissed it so they could go and try a route of the Administrative Procedure Act and things of that nature in D.C., instead, because of that forum issue. But what the Court rules here is that this is a core habeas issue. . . . [The Venezuelan migrants’ challenge] must be brought in habeas. Therefore, with core habeas petitions, jurisdiction lies in only one district, the district of confinement. So that in and of itself limits this type of judicial review that can happen. . . .

Essentially, habeas corpus means “to release the body,” and the Court has established that each detainee has the right to such a petition. And I would argue, consistent with my law school training, that is the correct answer, even if you disagree with this particular Court’s decision-making. So I think that is the correct answer, but it is not necessarily the answer that the Trump Administration was seeking.

So the Trump Administration might have gotten a preemptive win. However, it could be a short-lived victory after due process occurs. The longer term victory is preventing judge shopping and having judges issue unappealable orders.

In ACLJ-related news, we are filing a new lawsuit in  federal court after a Virginia HOA banned all religious activities at a senior retirement community. Upon hearing of our client’s religious rights being infringed upon, the ACLJ quickly sent a demand letter to the HOA’s attorneys explaining how their policy violates the Fair Housing Act (FHA).

The HOA responded to our letter denying any wrongdoing and refusing to change their discriminatory policy. This left us with no choice but to file a federal lawsuit to protect our client’s religious freedoms under the FHA. We will keep you updated on further developments.
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Today’s Sekulow broadcast included a full analysis of the U.S. Supreme Court granting President Trump an early win in his efforts to deport violent Venezuelan migrants.

Watch the full broadcast below: