Ilya Somin: Limiting Presidential Power on Immigration

Note: this piece was originally published in Forbes, and features an interview with Checks & Balances member Ilya Somin. 

Since becoming president, Donald Trump has used the previously obscure authority in 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act more than any previous president and in ways critics view as dangerous. He may use this authority again in the new future to block the entry of foreign-born scientists and engineers on H-1B visas.

“President Trump has also employed § 212(f) to impose restrictions that are broader than those most commonly imposed by his predecessors,” noted a recent analysis from the Congressional Research Service. “These broader restrictions include . . . the entry of categories of nationals of seven countries and on the entry of aliens as immigrants from an additional six countries; a suspension of the entry of immigrants who lack health insurance; and, most recently, the suspension of the entry of most immigrants for 60 days during the economic recovery from Covid-19.”

To better understand this previously little-noticed provision of U.S. immigration law, and how the courts and Congress might limit a president’s use of it, I interviewed Ilya Somin, a law professor at George Mason University and author of the new book Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom.

Continue reading at Forbes.