The Supreme Court has given the American people a decisive victory against criminal foreign nationals trying to remain in our country. In Blanche v. Lau, the court ruled that the US government does not need to present enough evidence to convict before revoking their green card.
The 6-3 ruling states that the Immigration and Nationality Act does not require clear and convincing evidence that a lawful permanent resident (green card holder) committed a crime involving moral turpitude before considering them an applicant for readmission. Once someone is under this consideration, their green card can be revoked for disqualifying reasons, such as having pending criminal charges.
In practice, this makes it much easier for immigration officers to remove green card holders who are charged with a crime, especially if they leave the country and then return. Under the new ruling, they can be denied entry under inadmissibility rules rather than the stricter deportability rules. And the evidentiary bar is lowered as well. The government previously had to get enough evidence for a criminal conviction for a high-level offense before removing them.
The case originated with Muk Choi Lau, a Chinese citizen with a green card, who pleaded guilty to trademark counterfeiting and received two years’ probation. The Federal government then initiated removal proceedings against him, and the case worked its way into the Supreme Court.
Blanche v Lau makes America more secure by making it easier to remove green card holders, who are often foreign nationals like Lau who just came here to enrich themselves through criminal enterprise. Lawful permanent residents are not citizens and do not have the rights of citizens. We should have the right to remove them without going through a trial and conviction for a heinous crime.
This further underscores the idea that the United States belongs to its citizens. Foreigners who come here without citizenship, even if they are legal, have the privilege to be here, not the right. And if they are causing problems for our country like Lau was, they should lose that privilege.
Green card holders should not be able to game the system and stay here on technicalities. Texans for Strong Borders applauds this decision. America is not the world’s resort to be taken advantage of; we are a sovereign people.