Illegal immigrants seeking political asylum were sent to detention centers in Texas after entering from the U.S.-Mexico border.
The U.S. Supreme Court voted five to three on April 4 to make a new ruling that increases the burden of proof for immigrants in deportation proceedings, making it more likely that illegal immigrants will be deported for some misdemeanors, and that longtime U.S. residents will be more likely to be deported in addition to the fate of illegal immigrants.
The ruling is in response to the 2009 deportation of Clemente Pereida, a Nebraska man who had lived in the United States for 25 years and was arrested for falsifying his Social Security card to obtain a cleaning job; Pereida said his crime was minor and he should not have been deported.
Pereida, who entered the U.S. from Mexico in 1995, did not contest the “criminal impersonation with intent” charge after being arrested for forging a Social Security card and was fined $100 under state law. Pereda was deported.
The lower court’s decision also means that Pereda does not have standing to appeal the Attorney General’s decision to cancel his deportation on the grounds that his U.S. citizen son and Family would be affected; the Attorney General has discretion to cancel deportation, but not if the petitioner is found guilty of “moral turpitude.
The Supreme Court majority opinion, written by conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch, said the burden was on Pereda to show that his case did not in fact constitute “moral turpitude” and that he had failed to do so.
Pereda countered that his crime was minor and did not fall into the category of “moral turpitude” and that the burden of proof should be on the government; Pereda’s argument was not accepted by the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court’s decision places the burden of proof on Pereira, who is an illegal immigrant, making it more difficult for illegal immigrants to obtain special authorization from the Attorney General, and more difficult for illegal immigrants to defend themselves from the beginning of deportation proceedings.
The five justices who held the majority opinion in the case were all conservatives, including Chief Justice Roberts (John Roberts), Thomas (Clarence Thomas), Alito (Samuel Alito), Kavanaugh (Brett Kavanaugh) and Gorsuch.
The three dissenting justices, all liberals, were Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor and Blair.
Justice Barrett (Amy Coney Barrett) was not yet a justice when the case was argued last October and thus did not participate in the ruling.
Pictured are illegal immigrants seeking political asylum trying to cross the International Bridge Channel in Brownsville, Texas.
The Supreme Court ruled on April 4 that illegal immigrants who are convicted of a crime and seek to avoid deportation, even if they have lived in the U.S. for many years, must still prove their own reasons for avoiding deportation, which is the same as raising the threshold for avoiding deportation. The picture shows undocumented immigrants trekking across the border from Mexico into Texas.
The Supreme Court ruled on the 4th that if an illegal immigrant is convicted and seeks to avoid deportation, even if he has lived in the U.S. for many years, he must still prove his own reasons for avoiding deportation, which is the same as raising the threshold for avoiding deportation. The picture shows undocumented immigrants from Guatemala being sent Home.
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