The Supreme Court Strikes Again

For every one positive ruling, there are a dozen horrifying ones

By: Austin Abbring

October 1, 2026

3-year-old child next to a woman during an immigration court hearing. Photo Credit: David De Leon

The Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that the Trump administration can continue its controversial third-country deportation process. This process enables the rapid removal of immigrants through this draconian method. There have been around 25,000 immigrants so far since President Trump took office in January of 2025 who have been removed and deported to countries that they do not originate from. There is no regard for these individuals’ safety from persecution, violence, or health needs that may not be available or met in whichever country they are deported to, or any other litany of reasons that would impact these people. It is also a clear violation of due process for these individuals due to the rapidity of this expulsion mechanism being utilized by this administration. 

Remember, it is all about getting rid of the worst of the worst. The most violent criminals responsible for the most heinous of crimes. “They” just need to do it the right way. How about we create a viable immigration process and never have to consider a right or wrong way to enter the United States and begin the citizenship process? There does not need to be such cruel, oppressive, and heavy-handed punishments levied by the federal government for human movement across arbitrary borders. No one should be killed or held in telephone booth cells exposed to the elements or be subject to concentration camp detention centers over their legal standing in this country. Enough is enough. We should be grateful for every last immigrant who makes a sacrifice the vast majority of us could never even begin to comprehend, choosing to come here and build a better life for themselves, ultimately building stronger, more cohesive neighborhoods, counties, states, and a unified America. Like what we were founded upon. It is an abject failure of both political parties in this country that we continue this fight, that people still die, and that people of all ages are tortured in these hellscape conditions. For how many more decades are we going to continue to villainize, scapegoat, brutalize, and exploit immigrants in this country? Human beings.

As if the Supreme Court ruling could not be any worse, in Harlingen, Texas, twenty-five children had to defend themselves in immigration court a few days ago. Fifteen of them had no legal representation, and the youngest was three years old. Yes, you are reading that correctly. A three-year-old had to sit in the pew, in front of a microphone, with no legal counsel, and defend their being in the United States. How can we call ourselves a civilized society? Who are these immigration judges who allow these proceedings to happen in the first place, given the nature of these cases? What these third-country deportations and these literal children's immigration court proceedings boil down to is a Republican Party and electorate that simply does not care. 

They do not care about the law, the Constitution, human dignity, and they do not possess empathy. It is not even just white privilege; it is natural-born citizen privilege. These unconscionable deportations, the concentration camps on our soil, the roving Gestapo death squads in the form of ICE agents, and the physical, sexual, and psychological torture are the result of white nationalist rhetoric that echoes the nazi movement in Germany in the 1930’s. Large portions of our population are either oblivious to these facts or know they're true and find it exciting and favorable. This is not an immigration fact, but rather is in tune with the white supremacy and nationalism in this country; one hundred years ago, roughly four million Americans were card-carrying members of the KKK, which is roughly 4% of the population at that time. For many of us, that is only a few generations ago. That belief system is not dead. You can either accept the fact that there have always been pockets of fascism in this country and do something about it, or remain silent and ignorant of that fact and stand on that side. Unfortunately, for the vast majority of Republicans, they are nescient of this and what the Trump movement at its core is all about.