What the Honorable Maryann Trump Barry Said about the Ability of the Secretary of State to Order the Deportation of Individuals Lawfully Present in the U.S.
Adam Liptak reports that the law the Trump Administration is citing to deport Mahmoud Khalil was declared unconstitutional by President Trump’s sister when she was a trial court judge. Liptak’s story begins:
The 1952 law under which the Trump administration seeks to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a lawful permanent resident who helped organize protests at Columbia University, is largely untested.
Largely, but not entirely. It was ruled unconstitutional in 1996 — by President Trump’s sister. . . .
At the time, Judge Barry was a federal trial judge, and so her ruling did not establish a precedent binding on other courts. In any event, an appeals court later reversed her decision, though on grounds unrelated to its substance.
But it remains the most thorough judicial examination of the constitutionality of the law, and other judges may find its reasoning persuasive.
The case was Massieu v. Reno, and here is how Judge Barry’s opinion began:
Plaintiff, Mario Ruiz Massieu, seeks a permanent injunction enjoining the deportation proceeding instituted against him pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1251(a)(4)(C)(i) and a declaration that the statute, which has not previously been construed in any reported
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