2 independent outlets are covering this story. Verification: Confirmed — reported independently by wire/mainstream and conservative outlets. Patriot Watch links to original reporting; we don't republish it.
The Trump administration has activated a dormant court used for deporting individuals classified as alien terrorists. This marks the first time the Alien Terrorist Removal Court has been used.
Patriot Watch first flagged this story 1 d ago, when The Gateway Pundit reported it. Coverage has since grown to 2 independent outlets, including 1 wire/mainstream feed. The most recent report came 20 hr ago from The Guardian. Verification tier: Confirmed — reported independently by wire/mainstream and conservative outlets.
⚖ The Constitutional Angle
Because the Alien Terrorist Removal Court acts against aliens already present, Yamataya v. Fisher sets the floor: a landed alien is a Fifth Amendment person who cannot be removed without notice and a meaningful opportunity to be heard. Immigration and Naturalization Service v. St. Cyr keeps federal habeas open for pure legal questions. Shaughnessy v. United States ex rel. Mezei allowed secret evidence only at border exclusion, not for removing a resident.
Kaoru Yamataya v. Thomas M. Fisher, Immigrant and Chinese Inspector (The Japanese Immigrant Case) 189 U.S. 86 (1903)
Vote: Majority for the Court (Harlan); Brewer and Peckham dissenting. Exact 7-2 tally not… · Opinion: Harlan
Although Congress may commit exclusion and deportation to executive officers without judicial trial, an alien who has landed and become part of the U.S.
Immigration and Naturalization Service v. St. Cyr 533 U.S. 289 (2001)
Vote: 5-4 · Opinion: Justice John Paul Stevens
Two holdings. (1) Jurisdiction: notwithstanding AEDPA and IIRIRA's review-stripping provisions, federal district courts retain jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 to decide pure questions of law in habeas petitions filed by aliens facing removal. Because barring all judicial review of such questions would raise a serious Suspension Clause problem — habeas at its historical core ran to executive detention — the Court required a clear, unambiguous statement from Congress before reading a statute to eliminate habeas, and found none.
Shaughnessy, District Director of Immigration and Naturalization, v. United States ex rel. Mezei 345 U.S. 206 (1953)
Vote: 5-4 · Opinion: Justice Tom C. Clark
An alien stopped at the border seeking initial entry may be excluded without a hearing on the basis of confidential information the Attorney General declines to disclose, and his continued exclusion — even where it means indefinite detention on Ellis Island because no other country will take him — does not violate due process. 'Harborage at Ellis Island is not an entry into the United States': Mezei remained legally 'an entering alien' despite his prior residence in Buffalo from 1923 to 1948, because he had departed for 19 months behind the Iron Curtain and was seeking readmission.
Precedent facts from the PW Law Library — primary-source verified & independently audited
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