News/Commentary

Justice Alito rails against SCOTUS decision to allow end of ‘Remain in Mexico’: ‘The Court looks the other way’

June 30, 2022 | | Print Article

In a move that will almost certainly lead to an even greater crisis at the United State’s border with Mexico, the Supreme Court has ruled that President Joe Biden does have the authority to reverse former President Donald Trump’s controversial “Remain in Mexico” immigration policy that required asylum seekers to wait until U.S. courts can hear their cases before crossing into the States.

In a 5-4 decision that included the votes of Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. and Justice Brett Kavanaugh along with liberal Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan, the Court ruled that federal immigration law leaves the issue of whether or not to return asylum seekers to Mexico up to “executive discretion,” according to The Washington Post.

Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett dissented.

The news comes in the wake of the discovery of 53 illegal immigrants who died without water or air in the back of an 18-wheeler piloted by a Houston resident high on meth.

The tragedy is being called “the nation’s deadliest smuggling incident” by law enforcement, BizPac Review reported.

According to the Washington Post, “The justices had expedited review of Biden’s attempt to get rid of the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy after a lower court judge said that the administration had not provided sufficient justification for ending it and that the administration’s procedures were unlawful.”

In a scathing dissenting opinion written by Justice Alito for himself, Thomas, and Gorsuch, Alito argued that the Court “looks the other way” as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) violates “the clear terms of the law.”

“Due to the huge numbers of aliens who attempt to enter illegally from Mexico, DHS does not have the capacity to detain all inadmissible aliens encountered at the border, and no one suggests that DHS must do the impossible,” Alito wrote. “But rather than avail itself of Congress’s clear statutory alternative to return inadmissible aliens to Mexico while they await proceedings in this country, DHS has concluded that it may forgo that option altogether and instead simply release into this country untold numbers of aliens who are very likely to be removed if they show up for their removal hearings. This practice violates the clear terms of the law, but the Court looks the other way.”‘

“In doing so,” Alito continued, “the majority commits three main errors.”

“First, it unnecessarily resolves difficult jurisdictional questions on which — due to the Government’s litigation tactics — we have received only hurried briefing and no argument,” he states. “Second, when the majority reaches the merits, it contrives a way to overlook the clear statutory violations that result from DHS’s decision to terminate the use of its contiguous-territory return authority.”

“Finally,” Alito concludes, “the majority unjustifiably faults the Court of Appeals for rejecting the Government’s last-minute attempt to derail the ordinary appellate process.”

“I cannot go along with any of this,” he stated, “and I therefore respectfully dissent.”

“Justice Alito is 100% right,” tweeted Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) following the decision. “#SCOTUS terminating the Remain in Mexico Policy guarantees that every state will now be a border state.”

“BETRAYED!” exclaimed Jack Posobiec.

Below, see a sample of the disappointed reactions:

https://twitter.com/MarkusTheJames/status/1542540104555565056?s=20&t=qh7Z0hTY3DV4k-EX_jjWiw

 

Melissa Fine
Latest posts by Melissa Fine (see all)

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

Latest Articles