Trump’s Violation of the Law

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.