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WASHINGTON \u2014 The Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration Tuesday in an immigration case dealing with the government\u2019s power over green card holders accused of crimes.
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The 6-3 decision centers on an immigration officer\u2019s 2012 decision to put lawful permanent resident Muk Choi Lau on immigration parole when he returned from a short trip to China because he had been accused of a counterfeiting crime.
Lau argued that overstepped the officer\u2019s authority, and the decision wrongly allowed the Department of Homeland Security to swiftly begin deportation proceedings after he pleaded guilty to selling counterfeit clothes in New Jersey.
The high court disagreed. \u201cBorder officers did not have the burden to establish by clear and convincing evidence that Lau had committed a crime involving moral turpitude,\u201d Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in the opinion.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson disagreed, writing that the decision to put Lau on immigration parole effectively sentenced him to \u201cimmigration limbo\u201d before he\u2019d been convicted of any crime.
\u201cI worry that the Court has now handed the Government a massive blank check,\u201d she wrote in a dissent joined by her two liberal colleagues.
The decision comes as the high court considers a series of immigration-related issues against the backdrop of President Donald Trump\u2019s sweeping immigration crackdown, though this case started before Trump took office.
His administration argued that suspicion of a crime is enough to put a lawful permanent resident, also known as a green card holder, on immigration parole. Federal attorneys urged the court to take an expansive view of executive authority over immigration.
The court is also considering cases over Trump\u2019s push to end birthright citizenship, potentially revive a restrictive asylum policy and end temporary legal protections for migrants fleeing war and natural disasters in their homelands.
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