Adam Liptak reports that the law the Trump Administration is citing to deport Mahmoud Khalil was declared unconstitutional by President Trump's sister when she was a trial court judge. Liptak's story begins:
The 1952 law under which the Trump administration seeks to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a lawful permanent resident who helped organize protests at Columbia University, is largely untested.
Largely, but not entirely. It was ruled unconstitutional in 1996 — by President Trump's sister. . . .
At the time, Judge Barry was a federal trial judge, and so her ruling did not establish a precedent binding on other courts. In any event, an appeals court later reversed her decision, though on grounds unrelated to its substance.
But it remains the most thorough judicial examination of the constitutionality of the law, and other judges may find its reasoning persuasive.
The case was Massieu v. Reno, and here is how Judge Barry's opinion began:
