BETRAYED: Gorsuch Rules Criminal Immigrant Can Stay, No Deportation

Early on Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled that a law to deport criminal immigrants for violent crimes was too vague, handing President Donald Trump a major defeat. While the 5-4 decision went mostly as expected, Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Justice Neil Gorsuch flipped and joined liberal justices against President Trump’s agenda.

The ruling was a win for an immigrant with two burglary convictions. James Garcia Dimaya contends that because his crimes should not be considered violent crimes, and therefore not meet the grounds for deportation. The Justice Department, under both Barack Obama and Donald Trump, defended the law authorizing his deportation.

The case was initially brought up in 2016, but was delayed due to an expected 4-4 deadlock in the wake of Justice Antonin Scalia’s death.

Scalia’s death makes this seeming betrayal even more harsh for conservatives. Gorsuch was touted as being “in the mold of Antonin Scalia.” But this decision decisively proves that is not the case.

Maria Espinoza, who co-founded the Remembrance Project, blasted Gorsuch, calling his vote “a betrayal on the level of what we saw with John Roberts and Obamacare.”

Espinoza continued: “If President Trump gets another Supreme Court nomination, he’d better be to the right of Gorsuch.”

The Remembrance Project is a non-profit organization that advocates for citizens killed by illegal immigrants.

For conservatives concerned about America’s immigration problems, Justice Neil Gorsuch was expected to be an advocate. But in the wake of this decision, it is beginning to look as though his nomination may have been a step in the wrong direction.

A previous version of this post stated that the criminal was an illegal alien. The burglar is technically a legal immigrant convicted of multiple illegal things.

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