CIS Experts Break Down Three Major Supreme Court Immigration Decisions

In the latest episode of the Parsing Immigration Policy podcast, Fellow in Law and Policy Andrew Arthur and Senior Legal Fellow George Fishman examine three landmark Supreme Court immigration decisions issued over the past two weeks and discuss their implications.

"Two of these decisions went in the administration's favor, but the birthright citizenship was a big loss. Anyone who calls this a politicized Court should review all three and see for themselves."

• Temporary Protected Status (TPS): Why the Court ruled that Congress meant what it put into statute—no judicial review of TPS designations—and what the decision means for the Trump administration, and why Congress—not the courts—must ultimately reform a program that has evolved beyond its original "temporary" purpose.
• Asylum at the Border: How the Court confirmed that a foreign national only becomes an "alien" eligible to apply for asylum once they have entered the United States. The Court found that one has not arrived in the United States while still on foreign soil, regardless of whether they want to make an asylum claim.
• Birthright Citizenship: Why the Court rejected President Trump's executive order limiting birthright citizenship, why Justice Kavanaugh's opinion leaves open the possibility of congressional action, and what policy options remain to address birth tourism and other incentives created by current law.

The discussion also explores how these rulings could shape future litigation, immigration enforcement, and legislative action.

Host

Mark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.

Guests

George Fishman is a Senior Legal Fellow at the Center for Immigration StudiesAndrew Arthur is a Fellow in Law and Policy at the Center for Immigration Studies

Links

The ‘Birthright Opinion’ Is In — and Trump Won’t Like It

DOJ Vows to Crack Down on Birth Tourism in Response to ‘Birthright’ Opinion

Citizenship Follies

Intro Montage

Voices in the opening montage:

• Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.
• Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.
• President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.
• Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.
• Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.
• Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.
• Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.
• Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.
• Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.
• Candidate Trump in 2015 campaign speech.
• Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".