Supremes memo to lower courts: presidential power trumps leftist lawfare

This Supreme Court term, now in its final few days, has been focused above all on executive power.President Donald Trump has pushed the envelope of his authority, and the court has generally let him do so — except, as in the tariffs case, when he treads on clear congressional prerogatives.And even though the justices have yet to rule on the biggest presidential-power cases on their docket — birthright citizenship and the removal of the heads of “independent” agencies — three immigration rulings this week showed their overriding emphasis on robust executive power to counteract left-wing lawfare.On Tuesday, in Blanche v.Lau, the court found that the Immigration and Nationality Act doesn’t require a border officer to admit a lawful permanent resident who was charged with a crime into the country.Instead such a person can be “paroled,” which suspends his or her green card and allows for more expeditious deportation if convicted.On Thursday, the court in Mullin v.

Al Otro Lado found that an alien standing in Mexico does not “arrive in the United States” by attempting, and failing, to set foot in this country.In other words, the justices ratified the common-sense understanding that someone “arrives” here only when he is actually inside the country’s borders.That’s important, because the INA gives the right to apply for asylum only to aliens who are in the country — a requirement that lower-court judges were looking to thwart.Finally, in Mullin v.Doe (consolidated with Trump v.

Miot), the court found that the judicial system lacks the authority to review procedural claims against ending Temporary Protected Status for Syrians and Haitians.That’s because the text of the INA puts the designation or termination of TPS status wholly within the discretion of the president and his appointees.Moreover, the justices ruled that the plaintiffs’ constitutional claim — that Trump’s move to sunset TPS was impermissibly race-based — is weak.Inde...