Art Arthur - Former Immigration Judge, Center For Immigration Studies Joins Houston Morning News

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Six, twenty two Sart time here on Houston's Morning News.
Nobody comes to Ellis Island anymore, and immigration doesn't work
that way anymore either. They just walk across the border
and get absorbed into our country. We don't know who
they are in many cases, where they're from, or what
their intentions are. Well, the Supreme Court is getting ready
to hear a significant case. They could reshape the ability

(00:23):
of immigrants to appeal decisions made by immigration officials and
could become a boom, we're told, for President Trump's agenda
to deport illegal immigrants should he win the November election.
Art Arthur joins US former immigration judge at the Center
for Immigration Studies. What's involved in this case, Art, and
what is it the Supreme Court's going to be ruling on?

Speaker 2 (00:42):
So what's an issue in this case, Jimmy, is the
ability of an alien to seek a federal court review
of various decisions that are made in immigration matters. In
this particular instance, it is a application for a visa
for a Palestinian national who was president in the United States,

(01:05):
was filed on his behalf by his United States citizen wife,
and it was originally approved by US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
But USCIS later determined that the alien in question had
entered into a fraud went marriage in order to gain
immigration benefits, so they decided to revoke the petition that

(01:28):
they had already granted. And the question is whether the
alien in this case who's seeking the green card can
actually get a federal court to review that decision. That's
a little bit complicated, but basically what's an issue is
the ability of federal courts to slow up the removal
process by reviewing decisions that were made by the administrative agency, in.

Speaker 3 (01:51):
Other words, giving the courts the supervisory role basically of
immigration policy, which is supposedly passed by Congress.

Speaker 2 (02:01):
Sarah, that's the perfect way to put it. And you know,
it's important to note that most of the people who
end up in removal proceedings, most of the people who
are facing deportation, are facially removable. The only question becomes
whether they are eligible for any immigration benefits or what
we call relief from that immigration process. And you know,
it can be a fairly smooth process. It simply goes

(02:23):
through the imfgration courts or through USCIS, but when federal
courts get involved, it can slow that process down to
a halt. And really that's the biggest impediment to a
quick removal of individuals who aren't eligible for anything from
the United States.

Speaker 3 (02:39):
Can I ask you a question, then the executive branch
is in charge of executing the congressional law or is
this just something that the past couple of presidents have
taken upon themselves.

Speaker 2 (02:52):
No, Congress gets to make all of the rules as
relate to immigration. It is the role of the administration,
the executive branch, to actually execute those laws as Congress
has written them. And one of the things that Congress
has done, and again Congress has planary power over immigration,
has almost complete control over immigration, is to limit the

(03:14):
ability of federal courts to actually slow up that process
by you know, considering claims that are made by aliens
who are facing removal. And it's done that, it's trimmed
down the ability of federal courts to do that because
it wants that process to move very quickly. Unfortunately, federal
courts almost always fine they have jurisdiction, even if the

(03:35):
law is pretty clear that they don't. And so what's
an issue here is the Supreme Court putting its final
stamp on Look, you can't consider these claims. You have
to kick it back to the administrative agency to do
what they're going to do.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
Okay. If that happens, it becomes a bunch easier for deportation.
If it doesn't happen that way, then it could become
such a long process it becomes almost impossible to complete.

Speaker 2 (03:58):
Yeah. No. In fact, there are the cases in the
nineteen eighties Supreme Court made clear that every delay in
the immigration process works at the advantage of the alien.
And so what Congress and you know, potentially Supreme Court
will say is we want this process to move quickly.
You don't have jurisdiction, can gon't intervene. Let the agencies

(04:19):
do what we're going to do.

Speaker 1 (04:20):
All right, Ert, thanks for joining us. Appreciate it. Our Arthur,
former immigration judge