Supreme Court will decide if ‘criminal aliens’ can be held indefinitely while they fight deportation
WASHINGTON— The Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear the Trump administration’s appeal and decide whether “criminal aliens” can be held indefinitely while fighting deportation.
case to be heard in autumn It could give the administration more authority to arrest and detain immigrants with criminal records, including green card holders.
Government lawyers say immigration laws require the deportation of noncitizens with “aggravated felonies” on their records. And in such cases, they say, people can be detained for months or even years while their claims are before immigration courts.
Justices are divided on whether noncitizens fighting deportation are entitled to bond hearings and have a chance at release if they pose no risk to public safety.
The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York ruled against a pair of green card holders who faced deportation to the Dominican Republic and Jamaica. Both were convicted of attacks that qualify as aggravated felonies under immigration laws.
But the appeals court said the “extended period of detention” was unconstitutional if there was no hearing and no chance for release.
They were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, whose lawyers called on the court to reject the appeal.
“For the first time in this case, the government argues that civilian detention ‘does not involve any fundamental rights,’ and thus the Due Process Clause provides no substantive or procedural protections for detained men,” they wrote.
They said the Supreme Court in the past had accepted the “fundamental principle” that detained persons may be entitled to bail.
ACLU lawyers said one of the two men left this country and returned to Jamaica. However, Solicitor General D. John Sauer urged the court to rule on the matter.
He told the court that the detained men “do not have a procedural due process right to a bond hearing on whether they are a flight risk or a danger to the community.” “Individualized findings regarding flight risk and danger are irrelevant” under immigration laws that call for “mandatory detention based solely on aggravated criminal convictions.”
