WINNING: SCOTUS Hands Trump Administration Another Immigration Victory
Matthew T. McDonald
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Today the United States Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration when they ruled that federal authorities can deport certain immigrants who have committed crimes.
The court ruled 5-4, with the conservative justices in the majority, to uphold a lower court decision that found a legal permanent resident from Jamaica named Andre Martello Barton ineligible to have his deportation canceled under a U.S. law that lets some longtime legal residents avoid expulsion.
Barton was targeted for deportation after criminal convictions in Georgia for drug and gun crimes. He came to the US as a teenager with his mother in 1989 from Jamaica. He was convicted in Georgia in 1996 of assault and possession of a firearm after taking part in a drive-by shooting. In 2007 and 2008 he also was convicted of drug possession.
The decision could affect thousands of immigrants with criminal convictions who reside in the United States as “Green Card” holders.
Noting that deporting a permanent resident is a “wrenching process,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh, writing for the majority on Thursday said, “Removal is particularly difficult when it involves someone such as Barton who has spent most of his life in the United States. Congress made a choice, however, to authorize removal of noncitizens – even lawful permanent residents – who have committed certain serious crimes.”
According to report by the Migration Policy Institute there are nearly two million non-citizens currently living in America who the government has deemed deportable based on a criminal conviction.
The SCOTUS ruling came a day after President Trump cited the need to protect American workers and jobs during the current Chinese Coronovirus pandemic by signing an executive order blocking some foreigners from gaining permanent residence in the United States.
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