Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett finds herself at the center of conservative criticism after a contentious deportation ruling.
According to Law&Crime, Barrett sided with liberal justices on Monday in parts of a Supreme Court decision concerning the Trump administration's attempt to deport Venezuelan migrants under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, sparking outrage among MAGA supporters.
The Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling vacated lower court temporary restraining orders that had blocked the deportations. While all justices agreed that migrants deserve due process rights before removal, Barrett's partial alignment with Justice Sonia Sotomayor's dissent drew particular attention. The Trump-appointed justice joined specific sections of the dissenting opinion that questioned the majority's procedural reasoning.
Barrett strategically joined only select portions of Sotomayor's dissent, specifically parts II and III-B. These sections focused on due process rights and challenged the majority's assertion that cases must be filed as habeas petitions rather than under the Administrative Procedures Act.
The ruling centered on five Venezuelan plaintiffs who filed their case in Washington, D.C. The majority determined they should have instead filed individual habeas corpus petitions in Texas, where they were being detained. This procedural decision effectively halted their class action lawsuit.
Sotomayor, in her dissenting opinion, expressed strong opposition to the majority's intervention. Barrett joined her colleague's technical legal arguments while avoiding the more strongly worded criticisms of the Trump administration.
Conservative figures quickly took to social media to voice their displeasure with Barrett's decision. Utah Senator Mike Lee expressed disappointment on X, formerly Twitter, prompting Elon Musk to respond with concerns about "suicidal empathy."
Popular MAGA personality "Catturd" shared particularly harsh criticism of Barrett on X, stating:
There's nobody I have less respect for in the entire country besides Dr. Fauci than Amy Commie Barrett – Trump appointed her and gave her her dream job and complimented her and praised her – and she's been an ungrateful, backstabbing POS since day one. She got a million dollar Liberal book deal within weeks and her whole goal in Life is to be praised by The New York Times. Weak, coward, sellout, fraud. She's everything that's wrong with this country. She's an Absolute disgusting fraud.
This reaction follows a pattern of conservative backlash against Barrett. Last month, she faced similar criticism when joining Chief Justice John Roberts and liberal justices in denying the Trump administration's request to halt foreign aid payments worth nearly $2 billion.
Justice Sotomayor's dissent, partially joined by Barrett, raised significant concerns about the court's hasty decision-making process. She argued that the majority's conclusion about habeas relief being the exclusive remedy deserved more thorough consideration.
The court's ruling impacts how challenges to deportations under the Alien Enemies Act must be filed. While affirming due process rights for all migrants, the decision creates procedural hurdles for those seeking to prevent summary deportation. The majority's intervention effectively paused the lower court proceedings, prompting criticism about the rushed nature of the decision and its broader implications for immigration cases.
The Trump administration's unprecedented use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act for deportations faced its first major Supreme Court test through this case. The ruling establishes important precedents for how similar cases must be filed and processed through the court system.
Both conservative and liberal justices affirmed the constitutional requirement for due process in deportation cases. However, their divergence on procedural matters highlights the complex legal challenges surrounding immigration enforcement. Barrett's partial alignment with liberal justices represents a continuing pattern of independent judicial decision-making that has frustrated some conservative supporters who expected unwavering support for Trump administration policies.
