Dershowitz to Newsmax: Supreme Court's Deportation Rulings Not Definitive

The Supreme Court's decisions on the Trump administration's deportation policies have largely been supportive, but not definitive, Harvard Law School Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz told Newsmax on Sunday.

"They have been supportive generally of the power of the executive to decide who stays in the country, but what they've said also is if you're going to deport people, you have to do it the right way," Dershowitz said on Newsmax's "Sunday Report."

This means deportations must be done with the use of due process, and if there is a mistake made, such as in the deportation of Columbia University graduate student and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, then the administration must use their best efforts to get that person back, he added.

Dershowitz said he does not think deportation cases and appeals are over.

"I'm not sure how the Khalil case, for example, with the Columbia University student, will turn out in the end," he said, noting that there is a challenge over whether the government will have a basis to force him out of the country.

"The government hasn't alleged any crimes," Dershowitz said. "What they've alleged is it's inconsistent with the foreign policy of the United States to allow somebody to come in who claimed he was coming in as a student and used his student visa and now his green card in order to foment antisemitism and anti-Americanism on campus."

Meanwhile, he agreed that on the merits, a person who is a green card holder or a visa holder can be deported if they failed to disclose pertinent information that would have resulted in their applications being rejected.

"I think the government is trying to have a test case," said Dershowitz. "They're trying to see if it's enough under the McCarran Act, the act from the 1950s that says all you need is to show that it's inconsistent with foreign policy."

Dershowitz added that there will likely be a great deal of litigation over the next four years on deportation cases, and there will be more evidence showing potential deportees supported violence or committed fraud on their visa applications.

"These cases are going to be decided on a case-by-case basis," Dershowitz said. "But the bottom line is going to be the Supreme Court's going to say, yes, the president has the power to decide who comes into this country and who stays, but they have to do it consistent with due process. So the Trump administration will win on the merits and substance and may sometimes lose on the procedural and due process grounds."

Dershowitz also commented Sunday about a lawsuit filed by Harvard professors against the Trump administration on claims that threats to cut billions in federal funding for the Ivy League school violate free speech and First Amendment rights.

Further, places like Harvard are "becoming political centers for hard-left advocacy and anti-Israel advocacy," Dershowitz said. "Don't take them seriously. These are not principled people who are supporting academic freedom. For them, it's academic freedom for my side, but not for your side."

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