The law says "whenever the president deems necessary"
The judge going against that isn't a check, it's disobeying the law and enacting his own. There isn't any other way to interpret "whenever the president deems necessary"
I'd love to hear you explain how Judge Watson enacted his own law by shutting down Trump's executive order....
Plenary power isn't as absolute as you think it is. Consider the case of Zadvydas v. Davis in 2001. The Supreme Court ruled that presidential plenary powers didn't authorize the president to indefinitely authorize detainment of immigrants. If detainment was to last longer than 6months, the government had to show deportation within the foreseeable future or special circumstances. And since you're so interested in Supreme Court Justice's political affiliations, Only one justice at that time was a democrat....
Consider the case of Congress' plenary and absolute power to congress to declare war but many presidents have overstepped that right and went to war. Congress hasn't declared war since 1942 and how many wars have we been in since that lasted more than 90days?
Consider the case of Oceanic Steam Navigation v. Stranahan in 1909 in which the Supreme Court ruled that "it is the congress, not the president, that makes immigration law. ver no conceivable subject is the legislative power of Congress more complete than it is over… the admission of aliens". From my checking, at least 5 of those justices were republicans.
Now this is where you're arguing that congress delegated at least some of those rights when they passed the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act which stated:
Section 212(f), states: "Whenever the President finds that the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, he may by proclamation, and for such period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants, or impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate."
You should look up the cases of Chae Chan Ping v. United States for an example of what plenary powers can do. The guy lived here 12yrs or so I believe as a resident. He decides to visit his homeland and family in China, and gets the necessary paperwork to guarantee reentry into the US. Unfortunately, after he leaves China to come back but before he reaches the state's, a new law took effect and blocked his reentry. Why did this happen when before immigration between China and the USA was so extensive? Well the government had decided that since the transcontinental railroad had finished being built and an economic recession had hit that it should limit immigration. The ban on China went up a notch when in 1892 the court determined that Chinese immigrants could only stay in the US if they had a certificate of residency, which among other things, required (and I quote) the testimony of "a credible white witness". In 1893 Fong Yue Ting v United States, 3 Chinese workers were denied their right to live here bc while they were widely acknowledged as residents, they had no white person to certify that. Look up the case of Nishimura Ekiu, Mariel Cubans, Haitian political refugees, Chinese asylum seekers, and Arabs/Muslims/middle Easterners most recently. I bring these topics up to point out the absurdity/racism/prejudice of some of the immigration laws we have or have had but also that it was the judiciary that extended the plenary powers to begin with. This is the same judiciary you now have a problem with bc they are disobeying the law. Ironic how it all ties in together.
Anyway back to the topic at hand. You bring up section 212(f) to which I counter with the Immigration Act of 1965 which amended the 1952 act and says
8 U.S. Code § 1152 -
(1)Nondiscrimination
(A)Except as specifically provided in paragraph (2) and in sections 1101(a)(27), 1151(b)(2)(A)(i), and 1153 of this title, no person shall receive any preference or priority or be discriminated against in the issuance of an immigrant visa because of the person’s race, sex, nationality, place of birth, or place of residence.
Now this is where you argued that trump's travel ban is not discriminatory in nature. I have offered up the numerous instances of trump himself saying it was a Muslim ban, the evidence of Guliani admitting trump asked him how to make a Muslim ban legal (which coincidentally admits he knows it's illegal or else why ask how to make it legal?), the ruling of judge Watson, etc. even if you ignore trump's intentions, which you readily seem to want to do, you cannot get around the fact that the ban does In fact affect the racial and ethnic composition of the country which is exactly what the 1965 act attempted to ban.
Your next argument was that trump could ignore this as president bc he deems those 7 countries as "detrimental to the United States". But the problem arises that if trump can ban ENTIRE NATIONALITIES that he deems detrimental, then this means the 1965 act has no power to prevent discrimination. This is also where I bring up the DOJ memo that lends credence to my argument that banning people from these countries won't significantly improve the safety and security of the country. The next question is, what's to stop him from naming any country as a detriment to the United States? He doesn't like Mexicans. Are they going to be the 8th country? His meeting with Merkel didn't go over too well, will they be the 9th country? Hell, he might determine that all Latinos and people from South American are either drug cartels or muderers and rapists and he'll ban the entire continent of South America from coming. You don't think that's a logical conclusion well just look at how vindictive, childish, and egotistical he is lol.
Finally, if that wasn't enough to convince you that the president can't suspend the discrimination act of 1965 then I highlight to you the "Last in time rule" that holds that when statutory conflict arises, the courts will enforce the later-enacted federal statute. Since 1965 is later than 1952.....
I don't know about you, but this is roughly the point where Xkawn and maybe one or two other members were floundering and proffered up the idea that trump is only acting in the list that Obama and his congress made in 2015. The issue with this comparison and why the argument is ripped to shreds is that this 2015 law was placed on temporary visitor visas of people from those countries. It said those people had to be interviewed and get a visa before coming to the US. While that is discriminatory in its own right, the 1965 act prohibited discrimination against permanent immigrant visas and not temporary visitor visas. Since trump's is dealing with permanent immigrant visas it is covered by the anti discrimination act.
Lastly, there is some court precedence on this. U.S. Department of State v. Legal Assistance for Vietnamese Asylum Seekers the DC Court of appeals found that "The appellees’ proffered statutory interpretation, leaving it fully possessed of all its constitutional power to make nationality-based distinctions, would render 8 U.S.C. § 1152(a) a virtual nullity.” Also in their findings:
"We agree with appellants' interpretation of the statute. Congress could hardly have chosen more explicit language. While we need not decide in the case before us whether the State Department could never justify an exception under the provision, such a justification, if possible at all, must be most compelling--perhaps a national emergency. We cannot rewrite a statutory provision which by its own terms provides no exceptions or qualifications simply on a preferred "rational basis." Cf. Haitian Refugee Ctr. v. Civiletti, 503 F.Supp. 442, 453 (S.D.Fla.1980) (under 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1152(a), INS has no authority to discriminate on the basis of national origin, except perhaps by promulgating regulations in a time of national emergency)."
If you made it this far I fuckimg applaud you. My hands hurt from typing all this shit.