Well, the Court giveth, and the Court taketh away. Today SCOTUS decided it was okay to let Trump remove nearly 350,000 Venezuelan immigrants from Temporary Protected Status so that he can go ahead and deport them.
At issue before the Supreme Court was a subsequent designation made in October 2023 and extended in January just before Donald Trump took office. It is set to expire in October 2026.
In February, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem sought to unwind those determinations, meaning the protections would expire this year instead.
California-based U.S. District Judge Edward Chen blocked the move, citing concerns that the decision was based in part on racial animus.
Noem’s actions meant the affected immigrants face “possible imminent deportation,” he wrote.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in the administration’s emergency application that the courts could not review Noem’s decision.
And why can’t the courts review Noem’s decision? Oh, never mind. This is from the New York Times:
The justices announced they would allow the Trump administration to end the protections pending appeal of the case, potentially allowing the administration to move ahead with deportations. The justices also clarified, however, that they would preserve the ability of individual immigrants to bring some legal challenges if the government tried to cancel their work permits or to remove them from the country.
And do the justices seriously think Trump’s people are going to allow these Venezuelans to bring legal challenges before they’re loaded on a plane to go who knows where? If so, are those justices stupid? Oh, never mind.
Trump calls for probe into Springsteen’s involvement in Harris presidential campaign
President Donald Trump early on Monday said he would call for an investigation into musician Bruce Springsteen’s endorsement of former Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential run.“I am going to call for a major investigation into this matter,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social network. “Candidates aren’t allowed to pay for ENDORSEMENTS, which is what Kamala did, under the guise of paying for entertainment.”
What can one say but, what the bleep? Trump is pissed at The Boss for dissing him during performances in London. Trump is also calling for investigations into several other celebrities:
President Donald Trump has called for a “major investigation” into celebrities who aided Kamala Harris‘ 2024 election campaign, including Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé, Oprah Winfrey, and Bono, saying their appearances were potentially illegal contributions.
Trump had some celebrity endorsers, also, and some of them appeared at his rallies. Some people don’t know when to leave well enough alone. I believe celebrity endorsements go back to when Al Jolson endorsed Warren Harding.
In other news, the Terrible Horrible Budget Bill did make it out of committee. It has to be voted on in the House, and then who knows what the Senate will do with it. The best commentary I’ve seen on this is by Paul Krugman: Attack of the Sadistic Zombies.