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On Sunday, All Rise News predicted that the federal judge’s ruling that’s the subject of this newsletter would likely drop today. No, we’re not soothsayers — just on top of the courts.
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A federal judge passionately rejected Donald Trump’s plans to end-run due process for immigrants as a betrayal of our constitutional principles, in a thunderous ruling quoting the Declaration of Independence and Fifth Amendment in its opening lines.
Today, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein became the second judge to block Trump’s Alien Enemies Act Proclamation as unlawful, finding there was no “declared war,” “invasion” or “predatory incursion” to justify it. A third judge in Colorado issued similar preliminary findings and is widely expected to follow suit.
Minutes after the news broke, we jumped on a Substack Live with ex-U.S. Attorney and
host Harry Litman to discuss the powerful 22-page opinion and order, reading the following passage aloud.“This nation was founded on the “self-evident” truths “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, [and] that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Declaration of Independence, at ¶ 2 (1776). Our Constitution embodies these truths, in a limited government of enumerated powers, in its system of checks and balances separating the executive, legislative and judicial branches, and in its guarantee that neither citizen nor alien be “deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” U.S. Const. amend. V; see Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202, 210-12 (1982) (extending these protections to aliens).
Possible Action Item:
CASA, an immigration advocacy group advocating for Kilmar Abrego Garcia, mobilized a know-your-rights campaign with immigration enforcement ramping up in Washington, D.C.
“Notoriously Evil Jail”
Going beyond the lofty constitutional principles, Hellerstein also excoriated the Trump administration for sending more than 200 immigrants to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT).
“The sweep for removal is ongoing, extending to the litigants in this case and others, thwarted only by order of this and other federal courts. The destination, El Salvador, a country paid to take our aliens, is neither the country from which the aliens came, nor to which they wish to be removed. But they are taken there, and there to remain, indefinitely, in a notoriously evil jail, unable to communicate with counsel, family or friends.”
More than 2,000 people watched Harry and me live, as we analyzed the breaking news. Check out the full context in the the roughly 11-minute video.
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