Trump officials raise the stakes in showdowns with judges
President Donald Trump and his allies have launched a multi-pronged attack on the judiciary.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and his allies have launched a multipronged attack on the judiciary, punctuated over the weekend by his decision not to comply with a federal judge’s order to halt the deportation of hundreds of Venezuelans to El Salvador.
It was not the first time the two-month-old Trump administration had not complied with a federal court. Judges have said Trump has brushed aside their orders to unfreeze spending on a variety of foreign and domestic programs.
Battling the judiciary could face its ultimate test if the Supreme Court, which includes three justices appointed by Trump, rules against the administration. So far, the court has stayed largely on the sidelines.
The administration is also using its immigration policies to push the limits of how laws are applied to legal permanent residents and visa holders.
The Department of Homeland Security has cited Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s power to revoke green cards and visas of those it believes “would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States,” and it is using that argument to take away the green card of Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist who finished his graduate studies at Columbia University in December.
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