The US Supreme Court has ruled that a provision in US law requiring the deportation of immigrants convicted of violent crimes is unconstitutionally vague, a decision that could hinder the Trump administration's ability to step up the removal of immigrants with criminal records.
The court, in a 5-4 ruling, invalidated the provision in the Immigration and Nationality Act and sided with convicted California burglar James Garcia Dimaya, a legal immigrant from the Philippines.
Federal authorities had ordered Dimaya deported after he was convicted in two California home burglaries, in 2007 and 2009, though neither crime involved violence.
Kagan said the disputed provision's ambiguity created confusion in lower courts.
Trump's conservative appointee Neil Gorsuch, in a concurring opinion, said:
"Today's vague laws may not be as invidious, but they can invite the exercise of arbitrary power all the same - by leaving the people in the dark about what the law demands and allowing prosecutors and courts to make it up."
US Department of Homeland Security spokesman Tyler Houlton said the ruling significantly undermines DHS's efforts to remove aliens convicted of certain violent crimes, including sexual assault, kidnapping, and burglary, from the country.
Trump has called on Congress to pass legislation.
"Today's Court decision means that Congress must close loopholes that block the removal of dangerous criminal aliens, including aggravated felons," he said on Twitter.
The court issued the ruling at a time of intense focus on immigration issues in the United States as Trump seeks to increase deportations of immigrants who have committed crimes, though it was former President Barack Obama's administration that sought to deport Dimaya.
Dimaya's lawyer said the decision strikes down a law that has over decades led to the deportation of thousands of immigrants.
Dimaya came to the United States from the Philippines as a legal permanent resident in 1992 at age 13. He lived in the San Francisco Bay area.
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