Anyone who has his head above the sand should recognize by now that
the unelected judiciary – what was supposed to be the weakest branch of
government – has been accorded the status of sole and final arbiter of
every social and political question in recent years. But there is a
subset of this judicial tyranny that is particularly disturbing. In
addition to overstepping their jurisdiction, ignoring the Constitution,
and abusing the rules of standing, courts are now using Obama’s
discretionary executive policies (many of which were lawless) as a new
legal baseline, thereby prohibiting Trump from merely reverting back to
the way things were before Obama unilaterally changed the law.
Here are 13 prominent examples:
1) Executive amnesty: This must be at the top of
anyone’s list. Obama’s unilateral violation of American sovereignty and
immigration law was likely the most lawless act of an executive in
recent memory. But when Trump simply countermanded that usurpation, a
number of district judges – from William Alsup and Nicholas Garaufis to John Bates – said he must continue issuing work permits . . . . .
and visas to people who, under the law, must be deported. Shockingly, the Supreme Court refused
to grant the government an expedited appeal despite the unprecedented
circumstances, forcing the administration to first go through the crazy
Ninth Circuit.
2) Presidents set refugee levels … except for Trump:
The law (8 U.S.C. §1157(a)(2)) grants the president full authority to
set the circumstances and numbers of refugees, yet several district
judges, including Theodore Chuang of Maryland, ruled that Trump must
continue the refugee policies of Obama. Evidently, only Democrat
presidents can set the refugee cap. Unfortunately, the administration
gave in to these courts and modified the refugee provisions of the
“travel ban,” so this issue never had its day at the Supreme Court.
3) Temporary immigration status is really permanent: Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is designed to afford temporary residence to those here legally while a natural disaster happens to take place in their countries. Contrary to statute,
Bush and Obama extended it to illegal aliens and made it permanent for
many countries. Trump merely followed the statute and made this status
temporary, yet Judge Denise Casper said that because Trump is a racist, the word “temporary” in the statute really means “permanent.”
4) Catch-and-release of bogus asylum seekers: Obama not only expanded the definition of asylum but began releasing even adults who came here as bogus asylum seekers. Judge Dana Sabraw mandated that Trump continue catch-and-release.
Additionally, in July, Judge James E. Boasberg, a federal judge in the
D.C. District, certified an entire class of Central American
asylum-seekers to lodge an injunction against five ICE offices for not
continuing another Obama policy of granting paroles to aliens who passed
the credible fear test. Boasberg is also a member of the lawless FISA
court.
5) Obama’s visa programs are now the law: One of the many immigration programs Obama concocted by administrative fiat was a program to allow foreign entrepreneurs to circumvent the visa process
and apply directly for parole. Trump respected the fact that only
Congress can create this program and merely discontinued it. Judge
Boasberg, once again, ruled last December that he must continue it!
6) Take the Census, but don’t find out who’s a citizen: In July, Judge Jesse M. Furman indicated during oral arguments that he would side with the liberal states suing the Department of Commerce for adding a citizenship question on the 2020 Census form. Granted, it was not just Obama who stopped asking this all-important question, but this question was asked from the founding on up through the 1950s. But Trump can’t simply restore this commonsense practice.
7) Trump must continue Obama’s contraception mandate: Last December, Judge Wendy Beetlestone ruled
that the Trump administration must continue enforcing the Obama-era
contraception mandate, forcing employers to directly or indirectly
provide contraception as part of their mandated insurance benefits for
their employees. The Supreme Court already invalidated Obama’s mandate
in the Hobby Lobby case, yet Obama found a way around it. Now, Trump must continue Obama’s discretionary policies.
8) Transgenders in the military: From the time of
George Washington until the last year of Obama’s presidency, men who
castrated themselves or imagined that they were women did not serve in
the military. Obama changed that in 2016 without approval from Congress.
Yet several judges in D.C., Baltimore, and Seattle mandated
that Trump admit them into the military and continue a policy that
never existed before 2016. Judge Marvin Garbis of Baltimore, a Bush
appointee, even ruled that the Pentagon must pay for the “surgery.”
Every president, as commander in chief, can determine military
enlistment qualifications, but not Trump.
9) Obama’s teenage pregnancy program is in the Constitution:
In June, a federal district judge in Washington D.C., Kentanji Brown
Jackson, ordered the Trump administration to continue doling out $800
million in grants to private organizations to prevent teenage
pregnancies. This program never existed in this form until Obama and has proven ineffective, but it must continue, because a judge said so.
10) Obama now sets regulations on cars … forever? In April, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued an injunction
on the Department of Transportation’s delay of penalties to auto makers
that didn’t comply with Obama’s added Corporate Average Fuel Economy
(CAFE) standards. Obama dramatically expanded the penalty, and his
decisions are now final.
11) Trump must regulate drainage ditches: In 2015,
Obama declared that seasonal runoffs and ponds in your backyard are now
“navigable” waters subject to federal water regulations. Trump merely
restored the commonsense policy in place since 1980, defining navigable
waters as, you know, waters that transport commercial ships, not
breeding grounds for mosquitos. But Judge David Norton, a George W. Bush
appointee, ruled that Trump must continue Obama’s policy, despite a Georgia judge finding the policy itself to be unconstitutional.
12) Hot air? Trump must continue Obama’s methane policies: Last year, Judge William Orrick ordered
Trump to continue Obama’s lawless legislation of allowing the Bureau of
Land Management (BLM) to regulate the venting and flaring of methane
from oil and gas production. This has been devastating to our burgeoning
natural gas industry. No statute on the books could conceivably grant
such authority to the BLM. Orrick is the same lawless Obama-donor judge who declared a nationwide sanctuary policy attempting to block the DOJ from punishing sanctuary cities.
13) Obama regulated free speech of 3D gun blueprints; Trump must do the same:
Obama’s State Department dramatically expanded its authority under the
Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and International Traffic in Arms
Regulations to stop Americans from merely publishing CAD files of 3D gun
prints. This is the First Amendment, not a gun issue. The Trump
administration merely stopped regulating this particular activity, but
Judge Robert Lasnik ordered the Trump administration to block Cody Wilson from simply uploading a CAD file.
Source: Conservative Review, here.
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