The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a spate of harmful rulings, two of which my colleagues analyzed in detail. They include a decision that could have serious implications for the millions of green card holders living in the United States. As my colleague Isabela Dias wrote:
In a 6–3 decision signed by Justice Clarence Thomas, the conservative supermajority held that border officers don’t need to have “clear and convincing evidence” that a lawful permanent resident committed a crime involving moral turpitude—a vaguely defined immigration law term that can cover a wide spectrum of crimes generally involving intent to defraud or cause bodily harm—before jeopardizing their rights and ability to stay in the country. In other words, agents at the border have just been given exceptional discretion to bypass protections generally afforded to green card holders.
As Allen Orr, former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, warned in response: “The danger of this ruling is that it creates an incentive to use the border as a place where rights are diminished.”
Up next is SCOTUS’s major blow to congressional authority. From Pema Levy:
In a single opinion, the Supreme Court on Tuesday took a swipe at congressional authority while at the same time stripping some victims of religious violations the ability to sue over illegal treatment. The decision weakens a law guaranteeing freedom of religious expression in federally funded prisons. But with time, the ruling may prove far more disastrous and far-reaching, unleashing illegal behavior that both Congress and the victims are powerless to prevent.
For more, head to Isabela and Pema’s thoughtful analyses.
—Inae Oh
