Once again, President Donald Trump is facing legal challenges in order to keep this winning train rolling.
This time, it is a judge who is blocking the additional construction on Alligator Alcatraz.
Though the facility has already been erected, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis planned on expanding its footprint, but that has all just been put on hold.
Trump surely thought things would get better after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that lower courts were overreaching in their authority against the administration.
In Trump v. Casa, for instance, the Court ruled that nationwide injunctions were being abused.
The data backs that up, as Trump, between his first administration and the start of the second administration, has had more nationwide injunctions placed against him than all modern-day presidents.
While some of these rulings were correct, far more often, we are seeing ideology over the rule of law, which is why Trump has tagged these judges as activists.
Barack Obama-appointed Judge Kathleen M. Williams just derailed the expansion of Alligator Alcatraz.
While the facility can still hold migrants, the planned expansion has been halted.
After Judge Williams issued her ruling, Alex Lanfranconi, a spokesman for Ron DeSantis, stated, “Today’s ruling by an activist judge will have no impact on immigration enforcement in Florida."
He added, “Alligator Alcatraz will remain operational, continuing to serve as a force multiplier to enhance deportation efforts.”
For what I believe is now the fourth time since the SCOTUS ruling, a lower court judge has defied the Supreme Court order and hit the Trump administration with another nationwide injunction.
U.S. District Judge Deborah L. Boardman, a Joe Biden appointee, halted Trump's birthright citizenship order, stating, "The Court finds that the plaintiffs have shown they are entitled to a classwide preliminary injunction. The plaintiffs have established that they are likely to succeed on the merits of their constitutional claim because the Executive Order contradicts the plain language of the Fourteenth Amendment and conflicts with binding Supreme Court precedent."
Boardman added, "The plaintiffs also have shown that the class representatives and members will suffer irreparable harm -- the denial of citizenship -- without injunctive relief. Finally, the plaintiffs have established that the balance of the equities and the public interest weigh in favor of a preliminary injunction. The government will not be harmed by an injunction that maintains the status quo of birthright citizenship, and the plaintiffs will be harmed if the Executive Order is not enjoined pending the outcome of this lawsuit."
I am sure Trump will fight this in court, but the fact of the matter is, these judges are now blatantly defying an order issued by the Supreme Court. Sadly, the judicial review process is tedious, and it would be years before we see any real movement to have these judges removed from the bench. But while Democrats cry about the Trump administration weaponizing the system, I think it is pretty clear the system has been weaponized against this White House.
