Dem
47
GOP
53
Sorry, but today's post is a pretty big downer, as there was just so much news related to Donald Trump's democracy-damaging actions. And even once we get through those, then it's an item about somebody dying. That's how it runs some days.
Yesterday, we had an item about one of the cases involving the Alien Enemies Act. Today, it's a different group of deportees to a different country with a different justification. The deportees are... well, eight people, about whom little is known, other than most of them are apparently Asian and/or African. The country is South Sudan, which has just descended (again) into a violent civil war. And the justification is... a mystery, as the Trump administration is claiming it involves some sort of national security concern. All that is certain is that the justification is NOT the Alien Enemies Act.
When the eight people were detained, their lawyers hustled to court to get a temporary injunction, which they got from U.S. District Court Judge Brian Murphy. In the Judge's order, he told the Trump administration that the detainees could not be sent to any country other than the one from which they came, until the Court had an opportunity to adjudicate the matter. And over the weekend, despite the Court's injunction, the eight people were deported anyhow.
Once Murphy learned what had happened, he held an emergency, late-night session in which he demanded answers from Trump administration attorneys. Because the session was (mostly) sealed, details are a little sparse. However the Judge definitely said: "The department's actions are unquestionably violative of this court's order." Meanwhile, the White House insists it followed all relevant laws and judicial directives.
The wheels of justice grind slowly, of course, and no federal judge particularly wants to commence a war with the executive branch. But one of these days, we will get a clear answer as to exactly what these judges are going to do in response to the Trump administration's intransigence. It may be James Boasberg who gives us that answer, or, now, it might be Brian Murphy. (Z)