Trump Is Ignoring Court Orders, and the Supreme Court Seems OK With That

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The Trump administration argues it has the right to deport certain immigrants to far-flung, dangerous locations such as Libya, South Sudan, and an infamous labor prison in El Salvador without the due process rights guaranteed by the US Constitution, immigration law, and international humanitarian treaties the United States has signed. In these countries, they face the possibility of torture, indefinite confinement, and death. Late on Monday, the GOP-appointed majority on the Supreme Court told the administration to go right ahead. 

“Each time this Court rewards noncompliance,” Justice Sotomayor warned, “it further erodes respect for courts and for the rule of law.” 

The majority’s one-paragraph order is stunning. Without a word of explanation, the justices may have condemned thousands to torture or death. Despite the GOP majority’s silence as to their motives, the balancing tests they weighed are evident. The majority found that the prerogatives of the president are more important than the lives of untold thousands, as well as domestic and international law. The majority also placed little importance on the fact that the Trump administration has defied and obfuscated lower court orders, both in this case and others on the president’s removal powers. The likely result is to encourage the administration to ignore future court orders—placing both individuals and the rule of law in jeopardy.