But in an emergency filing, #Trump's admin has focused #SCOTUS' attention not on the legality of the action by Trump but rather on the permissibility of the actions by the 3 #judges - whether federal judges have the power to issue broad orders that block challenged polices on a nationwide, or "universal," basis.

The admin asked the court to narrow the injunctions to let the govt enforce Trump's directive to the greatest extent possible while the legal fight over the #policy plays out.

#law

#SCOTUS may do so "without considering the underlying #merits" of #Trump's action, the admin asserted.

That approach would set up the possibility of the court, which has as a 6-3 conservative majority, allowing broad enforcement of the #policy without assessing whether or not it is #legal.

The matter came to the court on a compressed timeline & with minimal written briefing.

#immigration #law #Constitution #BirthrightCitizenship #AbuseOfPower

The way the court is considering the case "seems quite strange," said Alan Trammell, a professor at Washington & Lee University School of #Law in Virginia, because "even though the substantive question of #birthright #citizenship technically isn't before the court, it still looms large."

"It concerns one of the most important provisions of the #Constitution & implicates a raging political debate," Trammell said.

#Trump #immigration #BirthrightCitizenship #AbuseOfPower

#Trump's order…directed federal agencies to refuse to recognize the #citizenship of #US-born #children who do not have at least one parent who is an American #citizen or lawful permanent resident.

The order was challenged by Democratic attorneys general from 22 states as well as individual pregnant #immigrants & advocacy groups.

#immigration #law #Constitution #BirthrightCitizenship #AbuseOfPower

The plaintiffs have said the directive violates a right enshrined in the US #Constitution's #14thAmendment, which was ratified in 1868 & long has been understood to confer citizenship to virtually anyone born in the #US.

Trammell noted that the admin has not contested whether the injunctions should have been issued, asking the justices only to scale back their nationwide effect to protect just the plaintiffs in the cases.

#Trump #immigration #law #BirthrightCitizenship #AbuseOfPower

"The situation would be very odd indeed if the court concluded that the plaintiffs' view of the merits is correct, yet gave only the individual plaintiffs the benefit of that ruling," Trammell said.

The #14thAmendment states that all "persons born or naturalized in the United States, & subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the #UnitedStates & of the state wherein they reside."

#Trump #immigration #law #Constitution #BirthrightCitizenship #AbuseOfPower

The admin contends that the #14thAmendment does not extend to #immigrants who are in the country illegally or even to immigrants whose presence is lawful but temporary, such as #university #students or those on work #visas.

The admin argues automatic #BirthrightCitizenship does not reflect the best reading of the 14th Amendment & it encourages "birth tourism" by expectant mothers traveling the US to give birth & secure #citizenship for their children.

#Trump #immigration #law #Constitution

At #SCOTUS, the admin has targeted only the universal scope of the injunctions, content to leave them in place to protect only the people who sued as well as the residents of the 22 states, assuming SCOTUS finds that these states have the necessary legal standing to bring their cases. That outcome would let #Trump's order go into effect in the 28 states that did not sue, aside from any plaintiffs from those states.

#immigration #law #Constitution #BirthrightCitizenship #AbuseOfPower

The #DOJ said the issuance of broad #judicial injunctions has bedeviled admins of both parties, Republican & Democratic, & must be urgently rectified by #SCOTUS. #Trump himself on March 20 called the situation "toxic" & urged the #SupremeCourt to act.

Since Trump returned to office, many of his numerous #ExecutiveOrders & other initiatives have been impeded by #judges, including through universal injunctions.

#judiciary #immigration #law #Constitution #BirthrightCitizenship #AbuseOfPower

"The need for this court's intervention has become urgent as universal injunctions have reached tsunami levels," the #DOJ said in a written filing.

[it’s the illegal Executive Orders & actions that have reached tsunami levels]

If #SCOTUS agrees to scale back the #judicial blocks, it could lead to a nation geographically fractured between places where babies are born w/automatic #citizenship & places where they are not, the plaintiffs said.

#Trump #immigration #law #BirthrightCitizenship

"An infant would be a #UnitedStates #citizen & full member of society if born in New Jersey, but a deportable noncitizen if born in Tennessee," the plaintiffs in the Maryland case told the justices.

The #DOJ cited #SCOTUS’ action in a case last year to back up its request to narrow the injunctions.

#Trump #immigration #law #Constitution #BirthrightCitizenship #AbuseOfPower

In that case, called Labrador v. Poe, Idaho asked #SCOTUS to let the state enforce a Republican-backed ban on gender-affirming care for #transgender minors after a federal judge blocked it as #unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court, over the dissent of its three liberal members, granted Idaho's request that the statewide injunction be pared back to cover only the transgender plaintiffs who actually sued.

#Trump #immigration #law #Constitution #BirthrightCitizenship #AbuseOfPower

The scope of an injunction is significant, the #DOJ told #SCOTUS, & ensuring that lower courts do not act beyond their limited judicial power "is just as critical as merits review," meaning an assessment of an action's legality.

Some #legal experts said the cases differ for numerous reasons. For instance, they said, the Idaho case involved one state, not a presidential #ExecutiveOrder applying nationally.

#Trump #immigration #law #Constitution #BirthrightCitizenship #AbuseOfPower

Even though the admin has made the dispute primarily about universal injunctions, some court observers have said the justices could decide to rule on the legality of #Trump's order anyway.

It is unusual for #SCOTUS "to be considering an emergency application in this context," University of Chicago #law professor William Baude said.

"Because of that, we won't know what the court is going to focus on until the oral arguments start," Baude added.

#immigration #Constitution #BirthrightCitizenship

Live now #SCOTUS justices will hear #OralArguments this morning in 3 emergency
appeals over orders blocking #Trump's effort to end #BirthrightCitizenship.

To listen → supremecourt.gov/oral_argument…

So far still quiet.

#law #immigration #Constitution #Judiciary #AbuseOfPower

#SCOTUS Audio is working now.

Chief Justice #JohnRoberts opened Thursday’s session with a lengthy tribute to former justice #DavidSouter, who died last
week.

Up first is Solicitor General D. John Sauer, representing the #Trump admin.

As expected he’s arguing the power of the #judiciary to issue nationwide injunctions.

#law #immigration #Constitution #AbuseOfPower

Justice Sonia #Sotomayor says Sauer’s logic -- that even #SCOTUS does not have the right to issue a nationwide or universal injunction -- “makes no sense.” There would have to be hundreds of thousands of individual lawsuits to enforce a ruling.

Justice Sotomayor says #Trump’s #BirthrightCitizenship executive order violates four Supreme Court precedents.

#law #NationwideInjunctions #immigration #Constitution #Judiciary #AbuseOfPower