DOJ Brings Kilmar Abrego Garcia Back to the U.S. After Insisting It Couldn't
The Department of Justice brought the deported Salvadoran back to U.S. soil for trial, reversing its long-held contention that he would "never" return.
Immigration
Terry Moran Insulted Stephen Miller? That's None of the Government's Business.
Karoline Leavitt's threat against ABC News is an attack on free speech.
ICE, the LA Protests, and Trump's Domestic Use of the Military
Trump's domestic use of the military to counter anti-deportation protests in LA is so far very limited. But that could change. A big part of the root of the problem is the lawless behavior of federal immigation-enforcement agencies.
As American as Due Process
Those accused of wrongdoing have the right to challenge the evidence against them before the government takes away their liberty.
The Nondelegation Case Against Trump's Massive New Travel Ban
Trump v. Hawaii may block a challenge based on unconstitutional discrimination. But it does not preclude a nondelegation case. Other recent developments may actually bolster that approach.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia Back in the United States
The Trump Administration returned the illegally deported migrant from imprisonment in El Salvador after repeatedly claiming they could not do so.
U.S. Abandons Afghan Allies as Trump Administration Shuts Down Resettlement Programs
The State Department is eliminating the CARE office and ending the Enduring Welcome program, stranding U.S. allies who risked their lives and were told America would protect them.
A Federal Judge Orders Relief for Alleged Gang Members Deported and Imprisoned Without Due Process
Without such intervention, he warns, the government "could snatch anyone off the street, turn him over to a foreign country, and then effectively foreclose any corrective course of action."
The Gattaca Future Is Here
Plus: Trump's travel ban, NYC mayor candidate cites bad stats on child hunger, and more...
Trump's Massively Cruel New Travel Ban
He has banned nearly all new immigration and other entry by citizens of twelve countries, and imposed severe restrictions on seven more.
Correcting Some Media Misconceptions About Libertarianism, Trade, and Immigration [updated with apology/acknowledgement of error by Elie Mystal]
Media coverage of our tariff case has mostly been fair and accurate. But there are a few examples of unfortunate misconceptions, mainly having to do with libertarianism and its relationship to conservatism.
A First Amendment Right To Preach Orgasm?
As the prosecution rests in the OneTaste case, the defense lays out the free speech implications if the government succeeds.
Trump's Haste Begets Lawlessness
The president treats legal constraints as inconveniences that can be overridden by executive fiat.
"David Boaz on Immigration" - My Contribution to the Liberty Fund Symposium on "The Legacy of David Boaz"
My contribution considers his views on immigration and its role as a vital front in the broader struggle for liberty.
Our Fifth Circuit Alien Enemies Act Amicus Brief
The brief was filed on behalf of the Brennan Center, the Cato Institute, law-of-war scholar Prof. John Dehn, and myself.
Harvard International Student With a Private Instagram? You Might Not Get a Visa.
Under new State Department guidance, having private or no social media presence "may be reflective of evasiveness and call into question [a student visa] applicant's credibility."
J.D. Vance Wants a Free Market for Crypto. What About Everything Else?
Vance says "you've gotta let these people make decisions on their own." He should try that approach more generally.
How Palantir Is Expanding the Surveillance State
If you think the government will only use these tools to track illegal immigrants, think again.
How Trump's Tariffs and Immigration Policies Could Make Housing Even More Expensive
Out-of-control housing costs helped Trump win the 2024 election. Is he about to make the problem worse?
SCOTUS Allows Trump Administration to Revoke Parole Status of Noncitizens Present under CHNV Program
A reminder that the Executive Branch retains substantial discretionary authority over immigration policy and will prevail in court when that authority is properly exercised.
Wait, Lilo & Stitch Is About Medicaid and Family Separation?
A strange sort of policy logic powers the new Disney remake.
Civil Rights Groups Say Immigrants Are Being Denied Legal Access at Detention Centers
Reason confirmed reports of dysfunction and violence at one of those detention centers earlier this week.
Marco Rubio Sure Has a Weird Definition of Free Speech
Marco Rubio has announced a plan to deny visas to foreigners who censor Americans.
'Banal Horror': Asylum Case Deals Trump Yet Another Loss on Due Process
President Trump is entitled to try to execute his immigration policy. He is not entitled, however, to violate the Constitution.
Illinois Cops Gave ICE Access to More Than 5,000 Surveillance Cameras Nationwide
A camera network developed to help find missing cars and persons is now being used for immigration enforcement.
Overcrowding and Dysfunction Produced a Quiet Riot at a Miami Federal Prison Holding ICE Detainees
Half the elevators at Federal Detention Center Miami are broken. Immigrant detainees are kept on lockdown, and lawyers can barely reach their clients.
Trump Seeks to Deport Afghans Who Fled the Taliban
Lifting TPS status would make them eligible for deportation to Afghanistan, where the Taliban is likely to persecute and punish them.
The Alien Enemies Act Doesn't Say What Trump Claims It Says
Father of the Constitution James Madison made a distinction between alien enemies and alien friends.
The Case Against Judicial Deference to Executive Branch "Factual" Determinations in Alien Enemies Act Cases
Legal scholar Rebecca Ingber offers some strong arguments against deference in this context.
An "Ugly Tax" in Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill"
Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby rightly decries the GOP's inclusion of a tax on remittances immigrant workers send to their families, in the "Big Beautiful Bill."
Harvard's Best Protection Is To Get Off the Federal Teat
It's the best shield when the executive branch tries to strong-arm private universities.
Trump's Mass Cancellation of Student Visas Illustrates the Lawlessness of His Immigration Crackdown
A federal judge blocks the administration's "Student Criminal Alien Initiative," which targeted foreign students who had no criminal records.
Gary Winslett: The American Dream Has Migrated South
Middlebury professor Gary Winslett argues the South—not China—poached the Rust Belt’s manufacturing base by out-competing it on policy.
Israeli Embassy Staffers Killed
Plus: Trump bill passes the House, Danish father of five detained in ICE custody in Louisiana, and more...
Dave Smith and Alex Nowrasteh Debate Immigration
Is it consistently libertarian to support government restrictions on immigration?
Report: 50 Venezuelans Sent to Salvadoran Prison Entered the U.S. Legally, Contrary to White House Claims
"It's not just one or two administrative errors," says the Cato Institute's David Bier.
ICE Helps Round Up Sex Workers in Florida
In Operation Fool Around and Find Out, 244 "human trafficking" arrests, but no human trafficking.
Most Migrants Deported to Imprisonment in El Salvador Under the Alien Enemies Act Had no Criminal Record and Many had Entered the US Legally
A new Cato Institute study by David Bier presents the most extensive available evidence on these points.
What Kristi Noem Gets Wrong About Habeas Corpus
The legal principle safeguards civil liberties, protecting even unpopular people from the government.
Serious Immigration Law Enforcement Means Serious Destruction to American Liberty
Stephen Miller's trial balloon about abrogating habeas corpus in immigration cases shows how any libertarian with pragmatic intelligence should reject so-called "libertarian" arguments for strict immigration laws.
Trump Says Birthright Citizenship Is Only 'About the Babies of Slaves.' Historical Evidence Says Otherwise.
The 1866 debate over birthright citizenship included a debate over immigration.
Fourth Circuit Rules Against Trump Administration in Alien Enemies Act Case
In a 2-1 ruling, the Court ruled Trump's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act cannot supersede a settlement barring deportation of a group of migrants. One judge also held the AEA was invoked illegally.
Supreme Court Allows DHS to Suspend Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans
The latest SCOTUS order shows the justices are taking a more nuanced approach to district court injunctions of Trump Administration policies than its critics, left or right.
Lee Kovarsky, D. Theodore Rave, and Steve Vladeck on Class Actions and the Alien Enemies Act Litigation
Kovarsky and Rave defend the use of class actions in AEA habeas cases. Vladeck highlights the significance of the Supreme Court's grant of an injunction to a "putative class" of AEA detainees.
Men Caught In Prostitution Sting Aren't Sex Traffickers, Massachusetts High Court Says
But the ruling suggests prostitution clients could be convicted of sex trafficking in other circumstances.
