- President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday morning that the US should start deporting illegal immigrants with no legal process.
- He said those who “invade our Country” will be removed with “no Judges or Court Cases”.
- Trump’s proposed move would violate immigrants’ rights to due process guaranteed by the US Constitution and clarified by the Supreme Court.
President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday morning that the US should deport immigrants who enter the US illegally with no legal process.
Trump said once “somebody comes in” the country, they should be removed with “no Judges or Court Cases” – a move that would violate the long-established legal precedent for immigrants’ rights to due process.
We cannot allow all of these people to invade our Country. When somebody comes in, we must immediately, with no Judges or Court Cases, bring them back from where they came. Our system is a mockery to good immigration policy and Law and Order. Most children come without parents…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 24, 2018
….Our Immigration policy, laughed at all over the world, is very unfair to all of those people who have gone through the system legally and are waiting on line for years! Immigration must be based on merit – we need people who will help to Make America Great Again!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 24, 2018
The US Constitution’s Fifth Amendment guarantees no one can be “deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law.” In 1953, the Supreme Court clarified this right extended to non-US citizens.
In 2001, the Supreme Court doubled down in Zadvydas v. Davis, concluding: "the Due Process Clause applies to all persons within the United States, including aliens, whether their presence is lawful, unlawful, temporary, or permanent."
Trump's tweets came amid a flurry of on-air talk on the Sunday political shows about upcoming immigration policy from Republican lawmakers.
Many of them were responding to the president's Friday tweet saying Republicans "should stop wasting their time" on immigration reform until they elect more lawmakers in a "Red Wave" this November.
Republicans should stop wasting their time on Immigration until after we elect more Senators and Congressmen/women in November. Dems are just playing games, have no intention of doing anything to solves this decades old problem. We can pass great legislation after the Red Wave!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2018
Republicans currently control both houses of Congress, and have been trying to pass immigration legislation. Lawmakers from both parties have been calling for solutions to fix the border crisis, which the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy has exacerbated.
Despite Trump urging against immigration reform in his comments Sunday and a Friday tweet, Texas GOP Rep. Michael McCaul said on "Fox News Sunday" that Trump was "still 100% behind us" on passing legislation, based on a conversation he said he had with the White House Saturday.