Dean Johnson Comments on Supreme Court Immigration Case for Los Angeles Times, Capital Public Radio

Dean Kevin R. Johnson commented for media including the Los Angeles Times and the KQED Capital Public Radio program Forum with Michael Krasny on a case currently before the U.S. Supreme Court concerning whether the government has the right to indefinitely detain immigrants facing deportation.

In his interview on Forum, Dean Johnson said it was difficult to predict how the Court may rule in the case.  “If you’re a U.S. citizen, whether it’s criminal or civil detention, you always have a right to a hearing,” he said. “So what the government is defending here is an exceptional rule that would bar even a right to a hearing on whether somebody should be released. I think that’s the part where the Court is kind of hung up, because that is so inconsistent with our constitutional law.”

Speaking with the Times, Dean Johnson said the case has taken on added importance in light of the presidential election, since a Trump administration is likely to push for increased immigration enforcement. “I am more concerned with immigration detention in a Trump administration,” Johnson said. “Detention will become commonplace for noncitizens placed in removal proceedings. And with the backlog in the immigration courts, it can take years for removal proceedings to be completed.”

Kevin R. Johnson is Dean and Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law and Chicana/o studies at UC Davis School of Law. He is an internationally recognized scholar in the fields of immigration law and policy, refugee law, and civil rights.