Border Watch: 2 SCOTUS immigration decisions & migrants told to self-deport

Border watchers,

It’s been an eventful week for immigration. We had two SCOTUS decisions made surrounding two distinct cases, and another group of immigrants had their legal status revoked by the Trump administration. So, let’s start there.

CBP One App

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is terminating parole protections for those who entered the country legally through the CBP One app, revoking status for nearly one million people who came to the U.S. under the Biden administration.

Roughly 985,000 people used the app to make appointments at a port of entry at the border, with those who entered often permitted to seek asylum and given temporary work authorization.

"The Biden Administration abused the parole authority to allow millions of illegal aliens into the U.S. which further fueled the worst border crisis in U.S. history. Under federal law, Secretary [Kristi] Noem — in support of the President — has full authority to revoke parole. Canceling these paroles is a promise kept to the American people to secure our borders and protect national security," the DHS said in a statement.

The administration has begun sending email notices to affected migrants telling them to self-deport through the Trump administration’s version of the app, now called CBP Home.

President Trump suspended the CBP One app on his first day in office, leaving thousands at the U.S.-Mexico border who had appointments in disbelief.

SCOTUS allows Trump admin to continue use of the Alien Enemies Act

On Monday, the Supreme Court allowed President Trump to enforce the Alien Enemies Act. The ruling allowed immigration officials to rely on a sweeping wartime authority to rapidly deport alleged gang members.

The court stressed that going forward, people who are deported should receive notice they are subject to the act and an opportunity to have their removal reviewed by the federal court where they are being detained.

This decision was eagerly anticipated because the Trump administration has deported hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador’s mega prison called the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT).

SCOTUS blocks order to return migrant deported to CECOT

On Monday, SCOTUS temporarily halted a judge's order requiring President Trump’s administration to return to the United States a Salvadoran man who the government has acknowledged was deported in error to El Salvador.

This case of the Salvadoran man living in Maryland made national headlines. Kilmar Abrego Carcia was deported on March 15.  Abrego Garcia received a 2019 judgment in the United States granting him protection from deportation to El Salvador after an immigration judge determined he would face persecution from gangs in his home country if returned.

The U.S. government admitted to deporting Garcia due to an administrative error. A district court judge ruled that the administration return Kilmar Abrego Garcia by the end of the day on Monday, in response to a lawsuit filed by Kilmar and his family challenging the legality of his deportation. SCOTUS then blocked that order.

The Trump administration said while they made the error, they had no jurisdiction or power to return Kilmar since he’s now in El Salvador.