By Harold Hutchison, Daily Caller News Foundation | March 31, 2025
George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley predicted Monday that even “liberal justices” on the Supreme Court might support ending so-called “nationwide” injunctions.
A divided three-judge panel from the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld an injunction issued on March 15 by United States District Judge James Boasberg of the District of Columbia ordering the Trump administration to turn two planes carrying members of the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) to El Salvador around. Turley said that too many judges elected to “yield” to temptation, leading to “exasperation” among the high court’s members.
“Even liberal justices like [Associate] Justice [Elena] Kagan have expressed exasperation with these lower court judges who are issuing national injunctions rather than just enjoining any actions with regard to the parties in their given district and for many of these judges they follow Oscar Wilde’s rule that the only way to be rid of temptation is to yield to it and so you’ve got over 600 judges issuing national injunctions,” Turley told “America Reports” co-host Sandra Smith.
“So from the perspective of a president, it’s like flying a jumbo jet and every passenger saying I want my turn. There’s one person on that plane who has the task of landing it,” Turley continued. “Presidents have expressed frustration for years that they have to face this lilliputian attack from district courts. Each one has these national injunctions that can stop the action of the federal government.”
Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa promised to introduce legislation to address the nationwide injunctions during a Tuesday speech on the Senate floor after blocking a resolution from Senate Democrats demanding that President Donald Trump respect court rulings. Turley said Grassley was correct to address the actions of some district judges.
“What happens is that these judges issue a TRO [temporary restraining order] and that can be a couple of weeks before they even turn into what’s called a preliminary injunction,” Turley told Smith. “All that time, the federal government is frozen in amber. Only after that PI is signed can they take it up on appeal, so one of the things that the Congress is looking at is a way of fast-tracking these things which I think makes a lot of sense.”
Upon taking office on Jan. 20, Trump issued several executive orders to address illegal immigration, including designating Mexican drug cartels, TdA and MS-13, an El Salvadoran prison gang, as foreign terrorist organizations. Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to speed up the deportation of TdA gang members on March 15.
The Border Patrol encountered millions of illegal immigrants during the Biden administration, according to figures released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Harold Hutchison is a reporter at the Daily Caller News Foundation
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