US Supreme Court hits out at Donald Trump, puts Florida law jailing undocumented immigrants on the backburner for now
Ron DeSantis had passed the law earlier in the year, which instituted a mandatory minimum nine-year sentence if an undocumented immigrant committed the misdemeanor offense of entering the state for the first time. Repeated re-entry into the state would be treated as felony offenses that would mandate escalating prison sentences.
This law was legally challenged by two individual immigrants, as well as two immigrant advocacy groups. As a result, its enforcement was blocked by Judge Kathleen Williams of the Federal District Court in Miami.
When Florida's Government attempted to appeal this block by escalating things to the Supreme Court, their efforts ultimately failed, with Supreme Court responding: "The application for stay presented to Justice [Clarence] Thomas and by him referred to the Court is denied."
The Supreme Court refuses to revive Florida immigration law
By refusing to stay the Federal District Court order blocking the Florida law's enforcement, the Supreme Court has dealt a blow to Donald Trump's ambitions of instituting the largest immigration crackdown in American history.
As a consequence of this decision, Florida currently will not be able to bring up state charges against undocumented immigrants who enter the state, resulting in immigration enforcement remaining strictly under federal jurisdiction.
Supreme Court declines to let Florida enforce its new immigration law https://t.co/cJjAVXfC9Z pic.twitter.com/LuuZQHDVhf
Donald Trump has been heavily pushing for states to comply with his anti-immigration platform, to the point of deploying the National Guard and United States Marines to California in response to protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids. As this Supreme Court decision shows, however, even states willing to cooperate with President Trump's agenda will have legal hurdles to face.
The Supreme Court has a mixed record on Donald Trump's policies
While the Supreme Court has hindered Trump's agenda with its recent ruling, it has also enabled it on other occasions. On June 23, the Supreme Court stayed a federal judge's order that blocked the Trump administration from deporting immigrants to South Sudan.
BREAKINGThe Supreme Court green lights the Trump admin sending immigrants to war-torn and human-rights abusing South Sudan without process, even though most aren't from there. Doc https://t.co/nppiU8szPC Background https://t.co/yXpttVdxtC pic.twitter.com/um18z2rUjU
While the Supreme Court's recent decision will be taken as a victory by immigration advocates and Donald Trump's opponents, the long-term legal ramifications of these immigration cases remain unclear.
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India and the United States are bound not merely by trade statistics or transient political postures. They are linked, at a deeper level, by a civilisational affinity that transcends regimes, rhetoric, and rogue leaders read more I am going to begin this column with a joke. A man was being beaten in the public square of a town, but the more he was beaten, the more he kept laughing. Finally, someone watching the proceedings asked him why he was laughing. The man answered: 'These people are beating me because they think I am Dhiru. But I am actually Viru.' The joke may sound facetious, but it is both an illustration of the essence of Vedantic wisdom—that you are not what you (or others) think you are, Tat tvam asi—and of the principle that it is futile to beat the wrong person! 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This is not to deny the reality of immediate irritants—especially around trade imbalances, technology transfer, and intellectual property disputes—but to place them in their proper context: as negotiable issues within a long-term, strategic relationship. Trump, in the grand sweep of India–US relations, is, in my view, a transient nuisance, a temporary disruptor, not a permanent roadblock; an aberration, not an irrevocable defining force for all time. His leadership style is at odds with the strategic patience that true diplomacy demands. He has reduced alliances to balance sheets, and friends to negotiable assets. Yet, despite his provocations, the structural foundations of the India–US partnership remain intact. Defence cooperation expanded, foundational agreements like BECA and COMCASA were signed, and strategic dialogues deepened. That such progress occurred even during Trump's erratic presidency is testimony to the resilience of the relationship. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The goal of our diplomacy then must be not to throw the baby—which is the long-term perspective of Indo–American relations—out with the bathwater of a notoriously eccentric and unstable individual. How we do this will be the real test of our diplomacy. There are two aspects to this. First, our reaction to his unpredictable and often obnoxious behaviour. This should be responded to not with emotionalism but with a firmness infused with dignity, self-esteem and strategic autonomy. Dignity, because that befits our civilisational ethos; self-esteem, because we are not a pushover, nor are we at his mercy; and, above all, strategic autonomy because, as a sovereign nation, we shall not be dictated to by anyone—however powerful he may think he is—in deciding how we conduct our foreign policy and the choices we make in our national interest. 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In contemporary times, the Indian-American diaspora—now over 4.5 million strong—serves as a living bridge. It is a community that excels in business, medicine, technology, and politics. From Silicon Valley boardrooms to Capitol Hill chambers, the Indian-American presence affirms the compatibility—and complementarity—of our two democracies. There are geopolitical synergies as well, given the relentless Chinese pursuit of hegemony in the Pacific region and elsewhere. Perhaps the senseless arbitrariness of Trump should make us smell the coffee, and put our own house in order. We need to diversify our trade markets, negotiate new destinations for our goods, and reduce dependence on any one country for our critical needs. We also need to do far more on the Ease of Doing Business arena, and make our economy more competitive, while continuing to upgrade our military infrastructure. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Trump will come and go, but India must emerge stronger and more dynamic at the end of it. The writer is a former diplomat, an author, and a politician. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views.
