By Todd Lassa

The Supreme Court’s 7-2 vote Saturday to temporarily stop the Trump administration from deporting another 50 Venezuelan immigrants without due process under the Alien Enemies Act should have the White House concerned. Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito were the two justices siding with President Trump. The president’s appointees from his previous term, Amy Coney Barret, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch joined Chief Justice John Roberts to side with Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson in keeping what was likely planned as another flight to El Salvador to permanently imprison these 50 immigrants in the notorious CECOT facility (above), according to The New York Times.

Roberts, Thomas, Alito and the three Trump appointees, after all, last year gave the president virtually absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for any official acts in their 6-3 ruling on Trump v. United States. But SCOTUS’ temporary order offers some hope against the concern that the Trump administration’s swift attempt to fulfill the president’s key campaign promise is fueling a Constitutional crisis.

“The government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this court,” SCOTUS said in its unsigned brief (per NYT).

Even before this order there was some concern among the pro-MAGA that Justice Coney Barrett was not a reliable pro-Trump vote on the bench, and that she and Roberts alone could subvert at least some of the president’s executive orders and actions. 

Of course, this Saturday’s order was an emergency, “stop-gap” temporary ruling, and the majority could ultimately side with the White House. But it serves as an indication that despite Trump v. United States the judiciary isn’t ready to hand over all its power to the executive quite yet.

On this page, you will find two very different takes on the Trump administration’s deportation policy, with Rich Corbett arguing for the dire need for strict immigration enforcement in the right column and Jerry Lanson arguing for the rule of law in the left column. 

Here’s your chance to comment on this critical issue. Email your COMMENTS to editors@thehustings.news and please indicate your political leanings in the subject line, so we may post your comments in the appropriate column.