TUCSON, Ariz. — The Supreme Court gave the Trump Administration a short term win on deportations.
A divided Supreme Court put a stay (temporary suspension) on an order made by a U.S. District Judge in Boston that allowed migrants a chance to argue deportation to a third country that would put them in danger.
Because of the stay, the Trump Administration can continue quickly moving migrants without notice and send them to countries other than where they're from.
The stay is to allow the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to consider the deportations and the matter could be brought in front of the Supreme Court again for a permanent ruling.
Mo Goldman with Goldman Immigration law firm said he hasn't seen anything to this extent in his 25 years as an immigration lawyer.
“In a democracy where we do have due process rights, we should be upholding those rights. We should be giving people opportunity to respond to that sort of potentially not only life altering decision, but it could end up in the demise of individuals," Goldman said.
The high court’s decision came after immigration officials violated the court order and put people convicted of crimes on a plane to South Sudan in May.
“People are concerned about whether this is a slippery slope and whether people who don’t have criminal records can wind up being sent to a third country," Goldman said.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented the order. She said in a statement,"Rather than allowing our lower court colleagues to manage this high-stakes litigation with the care and attention it plainly requires, this Court now intervenes to grant the Government emergency relief from an order it has repeatedly defied. I cannot join so gross an abuse of the Court’s equitable discretion."
Goldman says what the Trump Administration is doing isn't right and these actions will continue to stoke fear into the minds of individuals.
"In a civil society this should not be happening," Goldman said.
Tucson’s Community Rapid Response Team supports people dealing with immigration law enforcement.
Violet Winters is a member of the team and says they do as much as they can to protect migrants.
“We receive calls from community members who see potential ICE or Border Patrol action," Winters said. "And we send observers who are trained to make sure that ICE and Border Patrol, and other immigration enforcement like CBP or whoever is not violating people’s rights.”
Winters says the team is taking a stand against the ruling.
“We want to condemn and denounce this order as a violation of people’s due process, as a violation of human rights as an order that puts people in danger for their very lives," Winters said.
Winters says she has worked in immigration law for six years and said the treaty Convention Against Torture also states the legalities of migrants rights.
"Even if you're ineligible for asylum or withholding of removal, which are two common and related forms of immigration relief, you are always eligible for some form of relief under the Convention Against Torture," Winters said. "If you're afraid of being sent somewhere and you're caught up in this, you should ask where you're being sent and assert that you're afraid repeatedly and ask to be given a hearing."
For now, there is no word on how long the stay will be in effect.
“As far as this policy, I think we have to just wait to see you know what further legal actions can be taken," Goldman said.
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