In a sweeping move last Saturday, the Supreme Court ended all deportations of illegal aliens by President Donald Trump under the 1798 Alien Enemy Act by a 7-2 to ruling, with only two justices, Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, dissenting.
The move blocks President Trump from removing illegal aliens under the Alien Enemy Act, shutting down a primary method the president employed in March to deport suspected members of brutal foreign gangs, including the terrorist drug cartel Tren de Aragua.
This highly controversial ruling – which appears to impede on the executive branch’s ability to enforce laws written and passed by the legislative branch – unsurprisingly stands in direct contradiction to the will of the American people.
Last week, CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten went on record with host Kate Bolduan stating that according to the organization’s polling data a strong majority of Americans – 56 percent – want all illegal aliens deported.
Enten noted in the discussion that Americans strongly approve of President Trump’s approach to immigration, and believe the United States is on the right track under Trump, a reversal from how the people felt under Joe Biden.
“On the whole, Americans like where we’re going on immigration policy under Donald Trump, which is very different from where we were under Joe Biden”, Enten stated. “The American people have come a long way on this issue, much closer to Donald Trump”, Enten continued. “And I think that’s a big part of the reason why Americans are increasingly saying the country is on the right track when it comes to immigration policy, and why Donald Trump’s net approval rating on that issue is in the positive. Very much unlike his first term.”
Enten noted that President Trump’s net approval rating on immigration is above water – the latest data shows that Americans approve of President Trump’s immigration policies by six percentage points – but in his first term President Trump was underwater by twelve points on immigration.
The Supreme Court’s ruling is highly questionable, especially considering the court is essentially arguing that all illegal aliens in the country deserve a hearing under the Fifth Amendment, regardless of evidence linking them to criminal activity.
The court’s argument also defies existing immigration laws, because the 1978 Alien Enemy Act is still on the books and was never repealed by either the 1952 or 1965 Immigration and Nationality Acts passed by Congress.
As law stands now, the president should have full power to invoke those acts passed by the United States Congress and deport illegal aliens – legally the president should not be forced to delay those deportations while criminals secure lawyers to make their cases.
The Supreme Court’s sweeping ruling ending deportations of criminals by the President of the United States appears to grant the judicial branch the ability to stop the executive branch from naming terrorist organizations and removing individuals designated as enemies of the United States – which has alarming legal implications that go beyond immigration policy.
A strong majority of Americans now support President Trump’s America First protective approach to immigration, and the public has made a significant swing of about eighteen points on immigration since Trump’s first term, now heavily favoring a secure border and the deportation of illegal aliens.
Enten also pointed out that President Trump’s approach to a secure border and the deportation of criminals has favorably impacted the way Americans view the direction the country is going with regard to immigration.
Looking at data from December of 2024 – the last few weeks of the Biden presidency – 62 percent of Americans said the country was on the wrong track with regard to immigration and only 14 percent said that the country was on the right track.
However, two months into President Trump’s second term, amidst Trump’s mass deportations and increased border security, and a full 45 percent of Americans say the country is on the right track with regard to immigration, while 42 percent say the country is still on the wrong track.
Enten pointed out that Americans largely disagreed with the way Joe Biden was handling immigration and were never on board with the left’s Open Borders agenda.
“When Joe Biden was president, the vast majority said that we were on the wrong track”, Enten said. “Again, this points out that, on the whole, Americans like where we’re going on immigration policy under Donald Trump, which is very different from where we were under Joe Biden.”
Poll after poll shows that Americans approve of President Trump’s approach to tackling illegal immigration, and finally believe the country is taking the right action to secure the border and remove illegal aliens.
A new YouGov survey conducted April 7-10 shows that, after protecting Social Security and tackling inflation, securing the border and deporting millions of illegal immigrants are the next highest priorities for Americans.
When asked specifically about President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts, voters supported his approach by a 15-point margin, 54 percent to 39 percent, according to the survey. Even more telling, 36 percent of Americans said they “strongly support” mass deportation.
Support for deportation crosses party lines as well. Republicans favor deportation overwhelmingly (90 percent to 6 percent), and independents support it by a 14-point margin (51 percent to 37 percent). While most Democrats are mostly opposed, 14 percent support deportation – an indication that concern over unchecked illegal immigration is a bipartisan issue now.
Support becomes even more pronounced when the focus shifts to violent criminals, the types of illegals President Trump was attempting to prioritize for removal under the Alien Enemy Act.
According to a spring poll from the Associated Press and NORC at the University of Chicago, 83 percent of Americans support deporting violent criminals who are in the U.S. illegally. A full 65 percent “strongly support” the move – including 89 percent of Republicans, 79 percent of Democrats, and 77 percent of independents.
These findings reflect a broad national consensus: Americans want their immigration laws enforced, their communities protected, and their government to take decisive action. President Trump’s reference to the Alien Enemies Act in targeting dangerous criminal aliens is in line with longstanding legal authority – and as these polls make clear, it has strong public backing.
Given the fact that a president who won the electoral college and popular vote is being stopped from acting on existing immigration law passed by Congress, and a majority of the American people are behind the president’s actions, the Supreme Court’s ruling is even more disturbing.
Through its block on President Trump’s deportation of illegal criminals under the Alien Enemy Act, the Supreme Court is laying groundwork for a bizarre precedent that appears to challenge the president’s ability to enforce laws related to the declaration of foreign enemies, laws that have already been written and passed and on the books for many decades.
Manzanita Miller is the senior political analyst at Americans for Limited Government Foundation.
