Michael Patrick Leahy, CEO and editor-in-chief of The Tennessee Star, said the U.S. legal system, especially the federal judiciary, is being used to block or delay the deportation of illegal aliens in contradiction to the will of the people and the intent of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to temporarily block the removal of a group of Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang members who are being held in Texas under the Alien Enemies Act.
The Supreme Court’s decision comes weeks after it previously ruled the executive could carry out deportations under the Alien Enemies Act as long as suspected illegal aliens were afforded “due process” to challenge their removal.
Noting Saturday’s decision by the Supreme Court, coupled with the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the alleged MS-13 gang member and citizen of El Salvador who was deported last month, Leahy criticized the argument that illegal immigrants have constitutional “due process” rights.
“This is a huge overreach by the judiciary. It is an attempt by the judiciary to usurp the authority of the executive branch,” Leahy said on Monday’s edition of his talk radio show, The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
“There’s so many instances now of the left wing federal judiciary usurping their powers and, in essence, trying to overturn the rightful actions of President Trump,” Leahy added.
Leahy pointed to the “very bad” 2001 decision in Zadvydas v. Davis in which the Supreme Court ruled that the Fifth Amendment’s due process protections apply to non-citizens, arguing that the judiciary has “kept going in the wrong direction” when it comes to rulings regarding illegal immigrants.
“Who knew an illegal alien had rights?” Leahy said.
“The Supreme Court ruled that the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment applies to all ‘persons’ within the U.S. That means non-citizens are entitled to constitutional protections against arbitrary deprivation of liberty. Deportation isn’t really deprivation of liberty,” Leahy argued.
Concerning Abrego Garcia’s case, Leahy disputed claims that the alleged gang member was deported without due process, further explaining how former U.S. Department of Justice lawyer Erez Reuveni failed to argue Garcia’s connection to MS-13 while in court, which would’ve voided Abrego Garcia’s deportation block.
“The attorney who acknowledged [that Abrego Garcia’s removal to El Salvador was illegal] Erez Reuveni, with the Department of Justice, was placed on administrative leave and later fired because in that proceeding, Attorney General Pam Bondi stated Reuveni failed to zealously advocate on behalf of the U.S.,” Leahy said.
“He did. That’s an ethical lapse on his part. He didn’t make the argument that MS-13 has been declared a terrorist organization. Garcia is a member of MS-13 by court. A decision, therefore, that obviates the ‘withholding of deportation approval ruling from 2019.’ That is really the situation now,” Leahy added.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
