Sustainable Switch: US legal system fights back against Trump
May 29 - This is an excerpt of the Sustainable Switch newsletter, where we make sense of companies and governments grappling with climate change, diversity, and human rights on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
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Hello!
It's a big day for legal eagles in Thursday's newsletter as a United States trade court blocked President Donald Trump's tariffs, while a federal court stopped his attempts to prevent migrant workers seeking work permits under a temporary parole program.
Let's start with the tariffs, which have mostly been blocked by the U.S. court in a sweeping ruling that found the president overstepped his authority by imposing across-the-board duties on imports from U.S. trading partners.
The Court of International Trade said the U.S. Constitution gives Congress exclusive authority to regulate commerce with other countries and that cannot be overridden by the president's emergency powers to safeguard the U.S. economy.
Financial markets cheered the ruling. The U.S. dollar rallied following the court's order, surging against currencies such as the euro, yen and the Swiss franc in particular.
Wall Street futures rose and equities across Asia also jumped.
The court invalidated with immediate effect all of Trump's orders on tariffs since January that were rooted in the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a law meant to address "unusual and extraordinary" threats during a national emergency.
The Trump administration has filed a notice of appeal and questioned the authority of the court.
The parole program
Meanwhile, a U.S. federal judge ordered Trump's administration to resume processing applications from migrants seeking work permits or more lasting immigration status who are living in the country temporarily under "parole" programs.
The ruling by District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston will provide relief to thousands of migrants from Afghanistan, Latin America, and Ukraine who were granted a two-year "parole" to live in the country under programs established by Democratic former President Joe Biden's administration.
The same judge had previously blocked the Trump administration from revoking the parole status of hundreds of thousands of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans.
The Trump administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to pause Talwani's ruling.
Talwani, appointed by Democratic former President Barack Obama, rejected the Trump administration's claim that suspending the parole programs was within its broad discretion to direct immigration policy.
Federal law still requires agencies under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to follow a lengthy process for granting or denying parole and other immigration relief, she wrote.
The Homeland Security Department did not respond to requests for comment.
New York's congestion pricing
Elsewhere, a judge blocked the U.S. Transportation Department from withholding federal funding from New York as the Trump administration tried to stop Manhattan's congestion pricing program.
New York launched its first-in-the-nation congestion pricing program in January which its governor Kathy Hochul said dramatically cut congestion and that funds raised from the program would underpin $15 billion in debt financing for critical mass transit capital improvements.
The program charges most passenger vehicles $9 during peak periods to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman issued a temporary restraining order before issuing a preliminary injunction preventing the federal government from withholding approval of funding for New York projects.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the government would appeal.
ESG Lens
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the United States will start "aggressively" revoking visas of Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields. President Donald Trump's administration has sought to ramp up deportations and revoke student visas as part of wide-ranging efforts to fulfil its immigration agenda.
International students - of which India and China together account for 54% - contributed more than $50 billion to the U.S. economy in 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Today's Sustainable Switch was edited by Jane Merriman
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