Donald Trump has been getting crushed in the courts, mostly at the hands of Democrat-appointed judges.
No, this time, it was a judge Trump himself appointed who has dealt the president and the American taxpayer their biggest defeat yet.
Throughout Trump’s first 100 days, he has been jousting with Judge James Boasberg, who was initially appointed to serve on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia by President George W. Bush, then elevated to the federal bench by President Barack Obama in 2011.
Boasberg ruled that Trump could not use the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) to deport dangerous gang members because this was a wartime piece of legislation.
Trump then appealed to the Supreme Court, with Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris arguing, “This case presents fundamental questions about who decides how to conduct sensitive national-security-related operations in this country -- the President, through Article II, or the judiciary. The Constitution supplies a clear answer: the President. The republic cannot afford a different choice.”
She added, “Only this Court can stop rule-by-TRO from further upending the separation of powers – the sooner, the better. Here, the district court’s orders have rebuffed the President’s judgments as to how to protect the Nation against foreign terrorist organizations and risk debilitating effects for delicate foreign negotiations.”
The Supreme Court ruled that Boasberg did not have jurisdiction in the case, which was a small win for Trump, as the order was defeated again when presented in the proper courts.
However, that did not stop Boasberg from continuing his quest against Trump, later finding that there was “probable cause” to hold administration officials in contempt.
Boasberg wrote, "The Court ultimately determines that the Government's actions on that day demonstrate a willful disregard for its Order, sufficient for the Court to conclude that probable cause exists to find the Government in criminal contempt."
He continued, “The Court does not reach such conclusion lightly or hastily; indeed, it has given Defendants ample opportunity to rectify or explain their actions. None of their responses has been satisfactory."
The administration is appealing that ruling as well, but it was just blindsided with another ruling on the AEA by a Trump appointee, U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr.
Rodriguez has just opened the door to a class-action lawsuit against the United States government for Trump using the AEA to deport migrants, stating, "The unusual circumstances of this case present a compelling justification to utilize a procedure equivalent to a class action authorized by Rule 23.”
He went on to say that Trump has “no basis … to resolve whether an alien has been properly included in the category of alien enemies–necessarily individual determinations."
This is a monster ruling, one which the administration will appeal, but it again goes to my point that Trump is firing from the hip with these orders rather than properly vetting them to see if they are legal or not. I have been adamant from day one that AEA would not be able to be used because the spirit of the law is clear that this is wartime legislation, and even though the situation at the border was dire, this was clearly not an enemy force “invading” our country. Unless something rather significant happens in the courts, this has opened the door to a lawsuit of a very serious magnitude that will cost taxpayers millions, if not billions of dollars.
