Opinion ID: 4348947
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Judicial Power

Text: “The exclusion of aliens is ‘a fundamental act of sovereignty’ by the political branches,” Trump v. Hawaii, 138 S. Ct. 2392, 2407 (2018) (quoting Knauff, 338 U.S. at 542), “subject only to narrow judicial review,” Hampton v. 6 Mow Sun Wong, 426 U.S. 88, 101 n.21 (1976). The courts have “long recognized” questions of immigration policy as “more appropriate to either the Legislature or the Executive than to the Judiciary.” Mathews v. Diaz, 426 U.S. 67, 81 (1976). We review the immigration decisions of the political branches “only with the greatest caution” where our action may “inhibit [their] flexibility . . . to respond to changing world conditions.” Id.; see also Fiallo, 430 U.S. at 792 (“Our cases ‘have long recognized the power to expel or exclude aliens as a fundamental sovereign attribute exercised by the Government’s political departments largely immune from judicial control.’” (citation omitted)); Kleindienst v. Mandel, 408 U.S. 753, 765 (1972) (“In accord with ancient principles of the international law of nation–states, . . . the power to exclude aliens is ‘inherent in sovereignty, necessary for maintaining normal international relations and defending the country against foreign encroachments and dangers—a power to be exercised exclusively by the political branches of government.’” (citations and internal alterations omitted)). Thus, “‘it is not the judicial role . . . to probe and test the justifications’ of immigration policies.” Hawaii, 138 S. Ct. at 2419 (quoting Fiallo, 430 U.S. at 799). We may nevertheless review the political branches’ actions to determine whether they exceed the constitutional or statutory scope of their authority. See id. 7