Former Republican National Committee chair and Trump administration critic Michael Steele pinpointed the moment of Supreme Court oral argument on Wednesday that he believed was a true body blow to Trump’s executive order to abolish birthright citizenship, in a discussion on MS NOW’s “The Weeknight” with Cody Wofsy of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project.”
All told, aside from a few favorable questions from far-right Justice Samuel Alito, experts — including some Trump highly respects — broadly agreed the argument was a disaster for the government, with the order all but certain to be struck down.
“You know, it felt like a historic moment to be in the courtroom before the oral argument even began,” said Wofsy. “There’s a often sort of paperwork process where people can be sworn in to be members of the Supreme Court bar, and a lot of people were sworn in this morning, and it was people of different races, different ethnicities, different religions. You could tell, you know, families from all over the world.”
“And it just struck me as such a powerful example of what the 14th Amendment means in America and what the foundational principle built into our Constitution that goes all the way back has made of this country being there, hearing the justices’ questions, and hearing ACLU legal director Cecilia Wong forcefully explain that this is an American principle. It’s a constitutional right. It was incredibly moving, and it felt deeply important.” Wofsy added.
Steele agreed, saying, “It was so important.”
“And it was so important for, in my view, all the wrong reasons because we shouldn’t have been there,” he added. “And I don’t know if America has settled in on that point yet, counselors. I really don’t because … this argument was won for me by the chief justice when he said, yeah, new world, same Constitution. What are we doing here?”
“The world between the day the ink dried on the parchment to this moment has always been new,” Steele pointed out. “Every day has been a new day in America, where ships and planes and trains and automobiles move people in and out from the very beginning. And this administration and this president doesn’t like that, because it’s not an accurate reflection of their view of what they think the country should look like.”
“So I want to put this on the table … because it’s really kind of eating at me a little bit because I don’t to the question, why are we here?” Steele said. “How did we get here? The President of the United States issued an executive order. There was not a law written. There was no legislation drafted. The Congress was not involved. There was no constitutional convention. How does the Supreme Court take this case up and … have the argument on the merits when, from my perspective as a lawyer, I would say to that, to the plaintiffs who brought the case, get the hell out of here. You cannot change the Constitution by executive order.”
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