Checked Out
Plus: Gender on passports, New York's gang database, SNAP fight continues, and more...
Venezuela
My New Article "Immigration is Not Invasion"
It comprehensively explains why illegal migration and drug smuggling do not qualify as "invasion" under the Constitution and the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
What Does Fentanyl Have to Do With Alleged Drug Boats 2,600 Miles Away? Absolutely Nothing.
President Trump’s pretextual claim that fentanyl carrying drug boats in the Caribbean are an existential threat to Americans doesn’t pass muster.
The Gaza Split
Plus: Venezuelan perspectives on unseating Maduro, Zohran's free-lunch promising, stand-your-ground laws, and more...
Javier Milei's Libertarian Policies Win Shock Election
Plus: Trump’s new tariffs on Canada, more unauthorized military strikes in Venezuela, and what a Mamdani victory in NYC could mean for the country.
Why Fentanyl Smuggling isn't War and Cannot Justify Extrajudicial Killing
Thus, Trump's attacks on boats in the Carribean have no moral or legal justification.
Trump Dares Congress To Take Its War Powers Seriously in Venezuela
The president bet that no one would stop him from land attacks in Venezuela. And Congress hasn’t given him any reason to think otherwise.
Trump Allegedly Misidentified a Colombian Fisherman as a Venezuelan 'Narcoterrorist'
The potential for deadly error underlines the lawlessness of the president’s bloodthirsty anti-drug strategy.
Does Argentina's Bailout Prove Libertarians Wrong?
Plus: the “No Kings” protests, Trump pays troop salaries during government shutdown, and the continued bombing of drug boats in Venezuela
Did the U.S. Just Kill a Random Fisherman?
Plus: Karl Marxing my neighborhood, No Kings, the limits of tariff revenue, and more...
We're Not Talking About It
Plus: Law and order in Philly, SCOTUS audience, Ackman drops some dough, and more...
Venezuela's María Corina Machado Wins the Nobel Peace Prize for Standing Up to Socialism
The award goes to a classical liberal and free market advocate who has risked her life to challenge Venezuela’s socialist dictatorship.
The Constitution Does Not Allow the President To Unilaterally Blow Suspected Drug Smugglers to Smithereens
If the Trump administration wants to use military power, it should seek authorization from Congress, says Sen. Rand Paul.
Free Speech Means You Can Criticize Anyone
Plus: Fallout from the Tom Homan bribery probe, U.S. forces strike Venezuelan drug boats, and Trump considers sending troops back to Afghanistan
The $100,000 Visa
Plus: Zohran Mamdani wanted to defund the police in 2022, fourth alleged narcotrafficking boat downed, and more...
Donald Trump Is Not a Peace President
Trump struggles to articulate any foreign policy view with much coherence, and has a fragile ego that makes world conflicts all about him.
Another Military Strike on a Speedboat Confirms Trump's Policy of Murdering Suspected Drug Smugglers
The president's new approach to drug law enforcement represents a stark departure from military norms and criminal justice principles.
Trump Calls His Drone Strike on an Alleged Drug Boat 'Self-Defense.' It Looks More Like Murder.
Equating drug trafficking with armed aggression, the president asserts the authority to kill anyone he perceives as a threat to "our most vital national interests."
Trump's Unjust and Illegal Killing of 11 Venezuelans
Killing suspected drug traffickers is both unjust and illegal. And it could be the start of an effort to turn the already awful War on Drugs into something more like a real war, thereby making it even worse.
Trump's Drug Boat Drone Strike Shows How 'Terrorism' Makes Everyone Killable
The logic of the war on terror means infinitely expandable government power.
Trump Orders Strike on Suspected Venezuelan Gang Boat in Caribbean
The attack follows the largest U.S. military buildup in Latin America since 1989, as Washington escalates its campaign against cartels tied to Nicolás Maduro’s regime.
The 5th Circuit Rejects Trump's Invocation of the Alien Enemies Act
The appeals court blocked the removal of alleged Venezuelan gang members under that law "because we find no invasion or predatory incursion."
'We're Going In'
Plus: Bombing "narco-terrorists" in the Caribbean, American manufacturing shrinks for the sixth consecutive month, Massie wants the Epstein files, and more...
Sanctions Are a Silent War on Humanity
U.S.-led economic warfare punishes the world’s most vulnerable while failing to achieve its foreign policy goals.
Rob Manfred Can't Fix Baseball. But These 4 Changes Might.
Plus: College football insanity, fans jailed in Venezuela, and the benefits of betting
He Took a Bus To Watch His Soccer Team. Instead, He Ended Up in a Venezuelan Prison.
Fans of Deportivo Táchira wanted to see their team play in the league final. The mafia state made sure most never made it.
They Fled Socialism and Came to the U.S. Legally. Now the Trump Administration Is Trying To Deport Them.
For years, the president has rightly railed against those oppressive regimes. So why is his administration targeting their victims?
From Terror Sanctions to Military Strikes? Trump's Cartel Policy Sidesteps Congress
Federal terrorist lists were not supposed to be an open-ended war authorization. But it sure looks like it’s being used as one.
10 Years in Prison for Selling a T-Shirt of a Hugo Chávez Statue Getting Smashed
Two Venezuelan women were convicted of incitement to hatred, treason, and terrorism.
Two Cases That Demonstrate the Incoherence of Trump's Immigration Policy
The Trump administration cut a deal with Venezuela to return a triple murderer to American shores while it tries to deport someone accused of much less.
Trump's Alien Enemies Act Deportees Sent Back to Venezuela in Shameful Hostage Deal [Updated]
After being ilegally deported and imprisoned in El Salvador, they will now be sent back to the oppressive regime they fled in the first place, in exchange for ten Americans detained by the Venezuelan government.
A Compelling Defense of Immigration Parole Programs
My Cato Institute colleague David Bier presented it in testimony before a congressional committee.
Trump Says the Courts Have No Business Questioning His Dubious Definition of 'Alien Enemies'
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit is considering whether the president properly invoked the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged gang members.
The Trump Administration Just Created Hundreds of Thousands of Illegal Immigrants
A blow to recent arrivals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela
My New Verfassungsblog Article On "The Nondelegation Case Against Trump's New Travel Ban"
It explains why a nondelegation challenge could work and deserves to win, despite Trump v. Hawaii.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
Bigotry, Hypocrisy, and Trump's Admission of Afrikaners as Refugees
The Administration isn't wrong to admit white South African migrants. But it is wrong to exclude all other refugees, including many fleeing far worse discrimination and oppression.
Our Supreme Court Amicus Brief Opposing Termination of CHNV Immigration Parole, Which Would Subject Some 500,000 Legal Immigrants to the Risk of Deportation to Oppressive Regimes
The brief is on behalf of the Cato Institute and myself.
Pope Leo XIV and Immigration
The first American pope has a history of advocating for migrants' rights.
Colorado Federal District Court Issues Additional Alien Enemies Act Ruling Against Trump
The court instituted a preliminary injunction against the Administration's use of the Act to deport Venezuelans.
Trump Administration Makes Damaging Admissions on Alien Enemies Act and Deportations
Trump admits he could return migrant illegally deported to El Salvador. And an intelligence community report concludes the Tren de Aragua drug gang isn't controlled by the Venezuelan government.
An Intelligence Memo Casts Further Doubt on Trump's Nonsensical Definition of 'Alien Enemies'
A declassified assessment contradicts the president's assertion that Tren de Aragua is "closely aligned with" the Venezuelan government and acts at its "direction."
Yet Another Federal Court Rules Against Trump in an Alien Enemies Act Case
The Southern District of New York rules Trump invoked the Act illegally, because there is no "invasion" or "predatory incursion."
Intelligence Agencies Undermining Trump's Claims
Plus: Deporting the worst of the worst, Bessent tries to promote the Trump economic agenda, and more...
