Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard the re-argument of Sessions v. Dimaya, a case that asks whether the administration can treat lawful immigrants to the USA (including Green Card holders like me) as though we have no Constitutional rights.
The case relates to a deportation order from the era in which Obama was deporting more people than any other president in the history of the USA, against convicted burglar and Green Card holder Garcia Dimaya. The law provides for deportations of permanent residents who are convicted of "crimes of violence," which burglary isn't, unless you're an Obama administration official trying to deport millions of people, in which case you just wave a wand and declare it to be.
Thanks to the Obama administration's politically convenient, flexible view of "violence," we now have the Supreme Court ruling on whether immigrants get any rights at all, if the President decides to take them away. Just as with Obama's amazing, perfectly tuned, self-perpetuating surveillance apparatus and drone-assassination program, 44 bequeathed powerful weapons to 45.
The case was heard before the Republicans stole a Supreme Court vote and gave it to Neil Gorsuch, and resulted in a split, 4-4 vote (Scalia probably would have voted to check the Executive's power, Gorsuch is much more of a bootlicking authoritarian racist shitbag in this domain, so we'll have to see).
Dimaya's challenge comes at a crucial time: while the executive traditionally has broad authority on immigration concerns, having some minimal legal protections for legal residents would seem like a critical check against this executive branch. It is frightening to imagine what President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions might do to legal permanent residents if they are not even constrained by due process concerns.
Does The Constitution Apply To Immigrants? Supreme Court Will Start To Sort That Out.
[Elie Mystal/Above the Law]
(via Naked Capitalism)
(Image: Lion Multimedia Production U.S.A., CC-BY; Trump's Hair)
