Trump ’s Ban on Immigration from Certain Countries Is Illegal

Angelo A. Paparelli contributed to this post.  This week last year, Donald Trump proposed prohibiting all Muslim immigration to the United States. He altered the proposal this year to specify“suspending immigration from nations tied to Islamic terror.” He told CNN that this was actually intended as anexpansion of the Muslim ban. Last week, he said, “People are pouring in from regions of the Middle East,” but that he would “stop that dead, cold flat.” He has alsomade clear that this would be one of the actions that he takes as president during his first day in office. This promise implies that he has the power to do so under current law, but that is not the case. It is illegal to discriminate against immigrants based on their national origin.  Even while delegating to the president broad powers to exclude immigrants, Congress also expressly forbade banning immigrants based on their race or national origin. President Trump will almost certainly run into legal difficulties if he attempts to carry out his promise.Text of the law bans discrimination based on national originAt first blush, it would seem that the president can ban people based on their nationality or country of residence. The Supreme Court has granted Congress extensive leeway under the plenary power doctrine to limit immigration based on criteria —such as race or national origin—that would be considered unconstitutional in other contexts, and proponents of Trump’s plan claim that Congress autho...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs