Tonight in Your Rights: A SCOTUS horse trade?
The Supreme Court pauses protections for Venezuelan immigrants; a federal appeals court grants "Cristian" mercy; and more.
Two decisions involving immigrants from Venezuela.
Two very different outcomes.
On Friday, the Supreme Court delivered a resounding 7-2 defeat for the Trump administration’s ambitions to spirit Venezuelan immigrants to a terrorism prison in El Salvador under a war-time statute used three times in U.S. history.
After the weekend, the justices pressed pause on the protections that more than 300,000 Venezuelan immigrants had from deportations.
Trump’s targeting of Venezuelan immigrants has driven a steady stream of calls to reps.
A lower court judge had previously blocked Donald Trump’s reversal of the Biden-era Temporary Protected Status granted to immigrants from certain countries because of conditions like a disaster, armed conflict, or in the case of Venezuela, political instability.
TPS status, as it is known, gives immigrants lawful status and the ability to work, which makes the decision’s impact so sweeping.
“I think part of what made this particular shadow docket order so striking for me is this is a massive change in someone's life,” University of Michigan Law Professor
told us in a Substack Live today, which we plan to post on Tuesday morning.The shadow docket, also known as the emergency docket, refers to typically short and unsigned decisions resolved by the court without full briefing and argument before a ruling on the merits. The immigrants’ lawyer Ahilan Arulanantham told the New York Times that it was “truly shocking” that the court used it for an action of this magnitude.
“This is the largest single action stripping any group of noncitizens of immigration status in modern U.S. history,” Arulanantham told the Times. “The humanitarian and economic impact of the court’s decision will be felt immediately, and will reverberate for generations.”
This particular ruling had only a single noted dissent by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, a fact that made Litman suspect there was more going on behind the scenes.
“I can only speculate, but one thought that definitely came to my head is: Was there possible horse trading between this case and the major due process ruling that we received on Friday afternoon that, of course, blocked the Trump administration from carrying out these extraordinary renditions of some Venezuelan nationals to the El Salvador mega prison?” Litman asked.
Otherwise, she added: “It is a little difficult for me to imagine that both Justices Kagan and Sotomayor were fully on board with pausing the lower court decision in this case.”
Look out for my full interview with Professor Litman on Tuesday morning.
“Cristian” mercy
After Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s story made him a household name, Politico identified a man in a similar situation: Daniel Lozano-Camargo, identified in court papers as “Cristian.”
On Monday, a federal appeals court upheld an order forcing the government to “facilitate” his return from an El Salvador prison, too.
In both cases, the Trump administration ignored court orders blocking their removals and tried to retroactively justify their actions by claiming they belonged to the Tren de Aragua gang.
U.S. Circuit Judge DeAndrea Gist Benjamin harpooned that reasoning in her majority opinion.
“Cristian’s injury arises from the fact that instead of having his asylum application adjudicated on the merits—as the settlement agreement guaranteed—he was summarily removed,” the 2-1 majority opinion states. “The removal denied Cristian the chance to dispute on the merits the very accusations the government now puts forth on appeal to justify its breach.”
In a concurring opinion, U.S. Circuit Judge Roger Gregory wrote: “As is becoming far too common, we are confronted again with the efforts of the Executive Branch to set aside the rule of law in pursuit of its goals.”
“It is the duty of courts to stand as a bulwark against the political tides that seek to override constitutional protections and fundamental principles of law, even in the name of noble ends like public safety,” he continued. “The district court faithfully applied the contractual provisions in dispute here, and it properly ordered the United States to remedy the violation of its explicit promises. I cannot more fully concur in the denial of the stay pending appeal in this matter.”
Be on the lookout
On Tuesday morning, All Rise News will publish our interview with Professor Litman. We’re excited to report that
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Shocking. I guess we (I) used to naively believe that something like 'horse trading' would not occur with the Supreme Court -- they would uphold the law/constitution. But of course now even in the Supreme Court, the rule of law is under serious threat. I feel like a child who has now grown up to have the security of an honest, hardworking, caring family torn away....
The ruling on the shadow docket is so heartbreaking. My heart breaks for the Venezuelans.