
<p>The Supreme Court has allowed the Trump administration to strip away Temporary Legal Status (TLS) for thousands of illegal aliens. ; We do not know how the court voted. ; ; ; It is common not to give the vote in emergency appeals – although Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote her own dissent. ; Temporary Legal Status was the Biden administration’s means to allowing otherwise illegal aliens to remain in the United States – protected against deportation.</p>



<p>This was just one effort to legitimize the presence of many of the aliens the Biden administration encouraged to illegally cross the border. ; It was part of Biden’s parole program for Venezuelans, Haitians and Nicaraguans. ; There are approximately 350,000 Venezuelans currently living in the United States under TLS.</p>



<p>The Supreme Court decision stays a lower 5<sup>th</sup> District Court ruling that blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to terminate TLS and commence deporting undesirables. ; This is not a total victory for Trump since the Supreme Court’s decision only stays the lower court as the case – based on merits &#8212; works its way through the courts. ; The ruling does, however, provide a hint of how the high court may vote on the merits in the future.</p>



<p>This case is a good example of a warning I gave Democrats less than two weeks ago. Under a headline, “Democrats’ anti-trump court ‘victories’ may be unreal &#8230; or temporary, at best”. Of the more than 200 Executive Orders issued by Trump, only three dozen or so are being challenged in the courts. While Trump has had adverse preliminary rulings in several, I pointed out that these are only lower court rulings – and are subject to reversals as the cases rise to the appellate level and eventually the Supreme Court. That is exactly what happened in the TLS case.</p>



<p>The Supreme Court has kicked the case back down to the 5<sup>th</sup> District appellate court – asking it to determine what due process to which the TLS aliens are entitled before they can be removed. ; In the meantime, the Trump administration can proceed as if the TLS has been terminated.</p>



<p><strong>The Big Picture</strong></p>



<p>Of the more than 700 district court judges, it is not difficult to do a little judge shopping and find a jurist philosophically inclined to one’s position. The cases being challenged by Democrats are not the type to be resolved at the district or appellate levels – and Trump has an advantage – although not absolute &#8212; in the Supreme Court.</p>



<p>Democrats and the left-wing media constantly claim that many of the Trump administration’s actions are illegal – and that it is defying court orders. None of that has been established by the courts. There have been no contempt-of-court orders – and even that would be subject to appeal and potential review by the Supreme Court.</p>



<p>There is no doubt that Democrats have struck some blows on Trump in the court of public opinion, but in the real courts, Trump has been doing quite well. He is most certainly testing the extent of presidential powers. That is neither a crime nor unconstitutional. Presidents have done it routinely – although admittedly not as much as Trump. The Democrats’ self-proclaimed court victories are mostly temporary at best and dubious at worst. It is like calling a baseball game after the first inning. We have a long way to go to see where the dust settles on all the court cases. And I am betting Trump will prevail in most of the contested cases.</p>



<p>So, there ‘tis.</p>

SCOTUS allows Trump to strip away Biden’s migrant protective status
