Why Trump Alien Enemies Act win will make America safer
With the Supreme Court slapdown of the DC Circuit judges who’d blocked deportations under the Alien Enemies Act, Team Trump has won a significant legal victory in its effort to get killers and thugs out of America.
This is a good first step, essential to restoring America’s national security — but also a nuanced call, not a trumpet alarum to bring in the jackboots.
The Supremes seemingly took into account the fact that Judge James Boasberg lacked sufficient legal grounds for his initial blocking of the deport order.
The decision finds that the Trump administration would have been “likely to succeed on the merits” in its lawsuit to overturn the appeals court’s finding in favor of Boasberg’s ruling.
It also emphasizes that illegal immigrants up for deportation under the AEA — i.e., members of Tren de Aragua and other large-scale criminal organizations — must get a (more than just) share of due process.
“The detainees subject to removal orders under the AEA are entitled to notice and an opportunity to challenge their removal,” runs the 5-4 decision.
(An opportunity, note: That’s not a guarantee of a court hearing, but of a chance to file for one.)
And the high court gave an interesting answer to the question of which courts these removals can be challenged in, specifying that it must be the “proper venue,” which in this case “lies in the district of confinement” (i.e., Texas).
That’s not just a slap at Boasberg for accepting the case in the first place, it also hints that the justices may soon frown on all the sweeping national injunctions against Trump actions.
If so, that is not only good news for Trump, it’s good news for America.
It could significantly claw back the power of judges to interfere with executive-branch policy.
How the rest of the fight over these deportations plays out is as yet unclear, but for the moment, the balance of force is behind the Trump White House — which means national security is once more ascendant.
