Hans Rustad 
Sonia Sotomayer snakker med Juan Soto (22) i Washington Nationals før avspark i en kamp mot the Philadelphia Phillies i Nationals Park september 2019. Foto: Brad Mills/USA Today/Scanpix
Medlem av det liberale mindretallet i amerikansk høyesterett, Sonia Sotomayer, anklager domstolen for å ta parti for Trump-administrasjonen
Bakgrunnen er en sak hvor føderale myndigheter ønsker å nekte innreise til mennesker som blir en offentlig byrde.
This particular case, Wolf v. Cook County, deals with the Trump administration’s expansion of situations where the government can deny visas to non-citizens looking to enter the U.S. Federal law already says that officials can take into account whether an applicant is likely to become a «public charge,» which government guidance has said refers to someone «primarily dependent on the government for subsistence.” In the past, non-cash benefits such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), forms of Medicaid, and certain housing assistance did not count, but the Department of Homeland Security issued its new public charge rule in 2019 which did include these benefits.
Saken gjelder bare Illinois. Føderale myndigheter fikk en domstol mot seg, men høyesterett har gitt avgjørelsen oppsettende virkning, slik at visumnekt er gyldig. Saken er ikke endelig avgjort.
The new rule was already blocked with a nationwide injunction in a separate case, so the Supreme Court’s granting of a stay in the Cook County case only lets the government enforce the rule in the state of Illinois while litigation continues.
Sotomayer klager over at høyesterett er blitt politisert og Michael Bloomberg hev seg på og støttet henne.
«I fear that this disparity in treatment erodes the fair and balanced decisionmaking process that this Court must strive to protect,» she said.
Democratic presidential hopeful Mike Bloomberg threw his support behind Sotomayor in a Saturday tweet.
«Justice Sotomayor is right to sound the alarm,» Bloomberg tweeted Saturday. «If Trump wins in November, the Supreme Court essentially will become a rubber stamp for his assault on immigrants, health care and equality.»
Justisfeltet har blitt et slagfelt. Etter den mest liberale president i historien, står Trump for en korrosjon.
Men det stemmer ikke at Trumps utnevnelser støtter hans saker i tykt og tynt.
Recent history, however, shows that the conservative majority has been anything but in lockstep with conservative politics. Last year, Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch — both Trump appointees — drew attention for siding with the court’s liberal contingent on a number of cases.
