Professor Jennifer Koh Quoted in "How a Deportation Case Is Turning Into a Tussle Over Presidential Authority" -- Christian Science Monitor

Professor Jennifer Lee Koh is quoted in the Christian Science Monitor article, "How a Deportation Case Is Turning Into a Tussle Over Presidential Authority." The article considers the deportation case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia and the extent to which a U.S. president can refuse to comply with judicial orders in the name of foreign policy.

Excerpt from "How a Deportation Case Is Turning Into a Tussle Over Presidential Authority"

In recent court filings, the government has maintained that Mr. Abrego Garcia is alive and detained at El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, but also that the order to “facilitate” his return means allowing him to reenter the U.S. – not more.

“The federal courts have no authority to direct the Executive Branch to conduct foreign relations in a particular way,” Justice Department lawyers wrote. Several immigration and legal scholars disagree with the government’s rationale.

Given the government’s disregard, “I do think we’ve likely entered into the constitutional crisis,” says Jennifer Koh, co-director of the Nootbaar Institute for Law, Religion, and Ethics at Pepperdine University.

“If the government can do this to Mr. Abrego Garcia, ... then it can really happen to anyone,” she says. (As one government watchdog found, between fiscal years 2015 and 2020, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported 70 potential U.S. citizens.)

The Supreme Court’s order, while siding largely with the deportee, “could have been far more clear,” says Ms. Koh, and “seemed to grant unnecessary permission to the government to take the position that it has.”

The complete article may be found at Christian Science Monitor