Courts, Immigration, and the Limits of Executive Power

This week's top legal developments include a federal judge's order against DOJ leaders, a major Supreme Court immigration appeal, and renewed action on birth tourism.

An activist federal judge is encouraging lawfare against high-ranking DOJ officials who reached a settlement with President Trump over the release of Trump’s private tax information. The Trump Administration is requesting the Supreme Court order the Ninth Circuit to reconsider its ruling that held former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem exceeded her authority in ending the temporary protected status of foreign nationals. And we review other legal developments – from the fight to end birth tourism in Texas to efforts to introduce legislation that would end birthright citizenship for children of illegal aliens and temporary visitors to the United States.

Source: Brian Carter

Federal Judge issues order chastising President Trump and the DOJ

Federal district court judge Kathleen Williams, an Obama appointee, has issued a scathing order concerning the settlement of President Trump’s lawsuit against a number of government defendants, including the IRS.

President Trump, members of his family, and The Trump Organization sued the Government for the illegal disclosure of President Trump’s tax information to the media. (A government contractor pled guilty to that offense.) Trump and the government were eventually able to reach an agreed resolution of the case and it was dismissed.

The settlement agreement reached between the parties created the Anti-Weaponization Fund – which was to be used to compensate the victims of lawfare – before it was struck by a court and abandoned by the Department of Justice (DOJ). A subsequent release order, signed by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, essentially discharged President Trump, his family, and his companies from any IRS or government investigations.

Judge Williams – a partisan whose attempt to shut down a Florida immigrant detention camp was overruled back in April – concluded that Trump’s lawsuit “was brought to manipulate the judicial process to pursue benefits unavailable in litigation because the Parties were not adverse.” She accused both sides of misconduct, alleging the government attorneys had misled the court and that the plaintiffs “acted in bad faith.”

As a result of these “findings”, she has referred Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward to their respective Bars, which will conduct disciplinary investigations. She has also barred the Parties from referring to the “settlement agreement” or using or “citing any of its provisions” in any judicial, regulatory, or administrative proceeding “as evidence of a ‘settlement’ reached in this matter.” As The New York Times observed, “it is unclear if that will otherwise prevent Mr. Trump and the many companies affiliated with him and his family from relying on it to try to escape I.R.S. scrutiny.”

We seriously doubt her ruling with upheld if appealed. Prior administrations – most notably the Obama Administration, which used billion-dollar settlements to create slush funds to enrich liberal activist organizations – have done much worse, yet never received similar treatment by a federal judge.

Source: Nate Raymond

Trump Administration asks Supreme Court to vacate Ninth Circuit ruling protecting foreign nationals

The Government has asked the Supreme Court to overturn the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision that the Trump Administration “unlawfully ended legal protections that allowed 600,000 Venezuelans to live and work in the United States temporarily.”

The Government’s request to the Supreme Court is follows on the Court’s recent decision in Mullin v. Doe (June 25, 2026), where the Court held that federal law “barred” challenges to terminate temporary protected status of foreign nationals. The Doe case was decided after the Ninth Circuit’s decision and changed the governing legal principles that should apply to the Ninth Circuit’s ruling. We expect the Supreme Court to grant the Government’s request and reverse the Ninth Circuit.

In other news:

Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that the Texas Health and Human Services Commission has submitted a referral to the Texas Attorney General concerning healthcare providers that are soliciting birth tourism in Texas.

Following the Supreme Court’s birthright citizenship decision, Republican Senator Jim Banks has introduced legislation “to end birthright citizenship for the children of illegal aliens and birth tourists.” The bill would codify President Trump’s declaration that the United States is under invasion by illegal aliens and ensure that citizenship “does not apply to the children of those who entered as part of an invasion.”

Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan testified before a House subcommittee on Tuesday, July 14, requesting additional funding that would help assist with security-related measures. Justice Barrett explained that she was sent home by her security detail “with a bulletproof vest” after the leak of the draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade. Justice Kagan testified that there is a 38% increase in threats this year, which “follows a 25% increase last year.”