The US Supreme Court’s conservative majority Tuesday enhanced the power of federal border agents to remove from the country lawful permanent residents, or green card holders, involved in a crime of “moral turpitude”.
In a 6-3 decision by Justice Clarence Thomas, the court said border agents are no more bound to prove by “clear and convincing evidence” that an immigrant, seeking a re-entry into the country after a trip abroad, had committed a crime before denying them admission. They now just have to show that there was reason to believe they had.
“The Immigration and Nationality Act does not impose that requirement,” Thomas wrote.
This makes it effectively easier for the border officials to strip the people of their lawful permanent resident (LPR) status as they arrive at the US ports of entry.
