Obama Judge Hits Reverse, Gives Trump the Green Light on Somali Deportations

RedState 

It's finally happened. An Obama-appointed judge has decided to uphold the law, rather than indulge her feelings about Donald Trump. Her cocktail circuit friends will surely be disappointed in her.

So will Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN-5), given the litigants in the case. The case, African Communities Together v. Mullin, challenged the Trump administration's decision to terminate Somalia's TPS designation, which had been scheduled to take effect March 17. 

U.S. District Judge Allison D. Burroughs had initially stepped in on March 13, just four days before the termination was supposed to become effective, and temporarily froze the administration's action.

As we reported earlier on RedState, Burroughs had faced an impeachment effort after refusing to clear the way for the Somali deportations.

“SCOTUS made it very clear that lower courts cannot suspend TPS. Yet, an Obama-appointed judge is defying the Court and the Constitution in an attempt to subvert the will of the President," Republican Rep. Andy Ogles (TN-5) said in a statement.

"This judicial activist’s obstruction of the people’s will must be stopped. Judge Burroughs must be impeached," he added.

"On Monday I will file Articles of Impeachment against Judge Allison Burroughs for her unconstitutional act of Judicial Activism!!! Enough is enough, Americans First NOT 3rd world migrants," he wrote. 

In August, Rep. Ogles did just that. Then, like magic, she had a change of heart.

On Friday, Judge Burroughs denied an effort to keep Somalia's Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation alive, lifting the administrative stay she had previously imposed while the case played out.

"A federal judge will allow the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status for Somalia, denying a bid to block the termination and lifting an administrative stay that had temporarily prevented it from taking effect," SCOTUS Wire reported. 

And here is the consequential part:

Judge Allison Burroughs found the challengers failed to show they were likely to succeed, ruling TPS holders have no due-process right to an extension and that the Supreme Court's Mullin decision foreclosed their race-discrimination theory.

The key problem for the challengers: They couldn't demonstrate that they were likely to win.

The plaintiffs argued, among other things, that Somali TPS recipients possessed a "constitutionally protected interest" in the continuation of their status. Burroughs rejected that argument. TPS is, after all, temporary. 

Whether to extend a country's designation is a discretionary decision, she concluded. 

"Because TPS beneficiaries will receive future benefits if—but only if—the Secretary decides to extend the designation of their country of origin (or to redesignate it), they have nothing 'more than a unilateral expectation' ... in their future TPS eligibility," Burroughs wrote.

Maybe basic logic isn't as hard as it looks. 

Now, it gets really exciting with what other arguments were struck down in the case. Burroughs similarly rejected the argument that ending the designation itself violates TPS recipients' liberty interests. 

She acknowledged that an actual detention or deportation triggers due-process protections, but ruled that terminating TPS merely makes former beneficiaries potentially subject to future immigration enforcement.

"The Court is aware of no precedent that would allow it to find a protected liberty interest in being free from the prospect of immigration enforcement," she wrote.

Also gone? The unconstitutionality argument. 

"After Mullin, which included a constitutional race-discrimination claim, the Court cannot discern a path to concluding that Plaintiffs will succeed on the merits of this claim," Burroughs wrote.

That's a ruling to toast heading into the weekend. No more hiding behind "race" to argue that you're immune from being deported.

So, after months of litigation, her own administrative stay has been lifted. 

Hardest hit, Ilhan Omar? In December, she had railed against Trump's threat to end TPS for Somali refugees.

I write to express my deep concern about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Operation Metro Surge the Twin Cities metro area of Minnesota.

Since this operation began, it has been clear to me and other community leaders that ICE sent agents to the Twin Cities without preparing for legitimate, targeted enforcement of individuals who pose any risk to the public.

Instead, constituents, advocates, and local officials have documented blatant racial profiling, an egregious level of unnecessary force, and activity that appears designed for social media rather than befitting a law enforcement agency.

I am demanding answers on behalf of my constituents whose constitutional rights are being violated on a daily basis.

It is clear to me that this surge came in direct response to Trump’s racist comments about Somali people, and about me in particular. Earlier this month, Trump called Somali immigrants “garbage” and ranted that he does not want us in this country.¹

But over 90% of Somalis in America are U.S. citizens, and we are not subject to immigration enforcement because we are citizens.

Rather than focusing the operation on individuals with judicial warrants, ICE officers have been stopping Black and Brown Minnesotans on the street or in public spaces at random, demanding to see their ID.

Unfortunately for Americans, Ilhan Omar's residence in America is not temporary. That is, unless they find out she committed immigration fraud.