Trump’s Violation of the Law

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March 26, 2025

Published in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
(Germany) on 17 March 2025
by Alexander Haneke (link to original link to original)

Translated from by Michael Stehle. Edited by Patricia Simoni.

It is not a purely American phenomenon that the letter of the law does not always apply in immigration law. But Donald Trump is now clearly going further with his battle against the judiciary.

Germany should naturally be careful of criticizing Trump’s most recent deportation action. The American government abruptly transported 238 Venezuelan gang members* to El Salvador, ignoring a court order (or rather they received it “too late” as they claim).

Does Anyone Still Remember Sami A.?

In Germany, too, there are loud voices who advocate for a “creative” interpretation of the law when it comes to immigration policy. And does anyone still remember the deportation of public danger Sami A.? Joachim Stamp, integration minister of North Rhine-Westphalia at the time, sent him back to Tunisia by Learjet despite an emergency order from the administrative court.

However, in America there is no game of cat and mouse between authorities as some would like to portray. In all seriousness, the Department of Justice openly called into question the separation of powers and legal protection in its reaction to the dispute — and did not criticize the deportation flight, but rather the “massive” interference by federal judges in the executive’s sphere of power.

It claims that is because Trump’s actions in this area are not subject to any judicial review whatsoever, as the president is afforded authority over national security and foreign policy according to the constitution. In other words, as long as he invokes his “war powers,” nobody can stop him. In an America exhausted by Trump’s staccato, this is itself a new dimension.

*Editor’s Note: The 238 deported immigrants are described as gang members in the original German article; however, this is not a confirmed fact.

Dass im Migrationsrecht nicht immer der Buchstabe des Gesetzes gilt, ist kein rein amerikanisches Phänomen. Doch mit seinem Kampf gegen die Justiz geht Donald Trump nun deutlich weiter.

Natürlich sollte man vorsichtig sein, wenn man von Deutschland aus Trumps jüngste Abschiebeaktion kritisiert. Die Regierung hat sich dort kurzerhand 238 venezolanischer Gangmitglieder in Richtung
El Salvador entledigt, indem sie eine richterliche Anordnung überging (oder „zu spät“ erhielt, wie man dort meint).

Erinnert sich noch jemand an Sami A.?

Auch in Deutschland gibt es laute Stimmen, die eine „kreative“ Auslegung des Rechts befürworten, wenn es um die Migrationspolitik geht. Und erinnert sich noch jemand an die Abschiebung des Gefährders Sami A.? Den hatte der damalige NRW-Integrationsminister Joachim Stamp trotz Eilanordnung des Verwaltungsgerichts per Learjet nach Tunesien geschickt.

Doch in Amerika geht es nicht um ein „Katz-und-Maus-Spiel“ der Behörden, als das es manche darstellen wollen. Das Justizministerium stellt in seiner Reaktion auf den Streit allen Ernstes die Gewaltenteilung und den Rechtsschutz offen infrage – und es kritisiert nicht etwa den Abschiebeflug, sondern den „massiven“ Eingriff des Bundesrichters in den Machtbereich der Exekutive.

Denn Trumps Handlungen unterlägen in diesem Bereich überhaupt keiner gerichtlichen Kontrolle, da dem Präsidenten laut Verfassung die Autorität über nationale Sicherheit und Außenpolitik zustehe. Will sagen: Solange er sich auf seine „Kriegsvollmachten“ beruft, kann ihn keiner stoppen. Das ist selbst im vom Trump-Stakkato erschöpften Amerika eine neue Dimension.

This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

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