Supreme Court Strips Judges of Power to Pause Trump Deportations

The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that immigration judges can’t postpone deportation cases, giving President Trump another tool in his mass deportation agenda. The court denied an emergency request to reinstate administrative closure, the practice that allows judges to temporarily delay deportation cases, after the Trump administration made an agreement with the state of Texas to end it in June. The request came from three cities—Baltimore; New Haven, Connecticut; and Columbus, Ohio—and nonprofit legal aid organization Centro ⁠Legal de la Raza.The court’s denial was one sentence long without any explanation, a standard practice for emergency requests, and there were no reported dissents. The agreement to end administrative closure was made in federal court in Texas on the same day the state sued to challenge the practice. A judge also approved the agreement the same day, which the plaintiffs cited in their lawsuit as proof the White House colluded with Texas to get rid of the rule. “The need for interim relief is ​underscored by the collusion that infected this suit from its inception,” the cities and organization wrote.Administrative closure used to be common, with immigration judges using the tool to clear packed dockets, especially when a person had proceedings that could prevent their deportation such as a visa petition or appeal of a criminal conviction. Conservative politicians in places like Texas argue that the practice allows immigrants without legal status to stay in the country indefinitely. The Biden administration tried to make the practice permanent in 2024, but after Trump returned to the White House, the Department of Justice announced it would no longer defend administrative closure. Tuesday’s ruling follows Friday’s federal appeals court decision that immigrants aren’t entitled to bond hearings. In less than a week, the Trump administration has successfully eroded immigration law in order to deport more people. More on the courts and Trump:U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz got into a screaming match with Cuban Foreign Affairs Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla on Tuesday, after Parrilla approached Waltz’s podium mid-speech and called him a liar.This comes as the U.N. prepares to vote on whether to condemn the U.S. embargo on Cuba, the longest-running economic war and trade embargo in modern history. Parrilla has accused the U.S. of pressuring other countries into voting against a condemnation of the embargo, even as the most recent fuel blockade has led to the collapse of the once-revered Cuban medical system, doubling the infant mortality rate and putting millions of Cubans at risk. Waltz spent the entirety of his speech Tuesday calling Cuba’s government corrupt, accusing its leaders of having a private island and Rolex collections, and blaming them for their country’s current situation—even as the U.S continues to block fuel from reaching the island. Parrilla interrupted Waltz’s speech by calling for a point of order, arguing that the rules of the General Assembly had been violated, referencing Rule 71, which holds that “a representative may rise to a point of order, and the point of order shall be immediately decided by the President in accordance with the rules of procedure.”The U.S. Permanent Representative Mike Waltz is a disgrace to what it means to be a diplomat. The man talk, walks, and acts like a character from the film Idiocracy. Cuba will not stay idly as this person eviscerates the principles of the United Nations.…— David Ramírez Álvarez 🇨🇺 (@DvidTwit) October 27, 2026 Waltz disagreed, saying that Parrilla just didn’t “like” the points he was making. “He doesn’t like the hard truths,” he said as Parrilla began to approach the podium, still demanding that his point of order be recognized. “You can come and intimidate all you want, I ask you to back away from this podium!”Waltz then turned back to General Assembly President Khalilur Rahman.“Mr. President, this individual needs to back away from this podium, he’s not going to intimidate me in the United States of America like he tries to do to political prisoners! I’m the representative of the United States of America, back up!”“You are a liar!” Parrilla retorted.“Back away! … Do you understand who you’re dealing with?” Waltz threatened while Parrilla continued to call him a liar. “This is the United States of America. Back up.” The meeting was then suspended.NEW: @USAmbUN Mike Waltz just got into a shouting match on the floor of the general assembly with Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla"He's not going to intimidate me in the United States of America, like he tries to intimidate political prisoners," Waltz… pic.twitter.com/DgZZ4v8w7w— Josh Christenson (@jchristenson_) October 27, 2026 While President Obama loosened many of the embargo’s restrictions during his tenure, President Trump doubled down on them—especially in his second term when Cuban American Marco Rubio became Secretary of State. The fuel blockade has induced food and water shortages, daily blackouts, a mass exodus from the country, and a medicine shortage that has forced Cubans to buy lifesaving drugs off the black market. Even ventilators keeping premature babies alive aren’t working. The U.S. has continued to insist that these sanctions are targeting Cuba’s Communist government, but they are obviously having direct negative impacts on the Cuban people. Even still, Waltz’s outburst indicates that the Trump administration has no intention of loosening the economic “noose” on Cuba anytime soon.Alaskans are apparently too “busy” to comprehend what “incumbent” means, according to Vice President JD Vance.Vance was asked Tuesday to explain the rationale behind a fast-tracked Justice Department lawsuit working to preemptively block the Last Frontier’s Senate election results in the case of a Democratic win, but instead he offended the intelligence of voting Alaskans.At issue is a general election ballot that will feature two men named Dan Sullivan. There’s Senator Dan Sullivan, the Republican nominee who will be prominently noted as the “incumbent,” and Dan J. Sullivan Jr., an independent candidate who remains unaffiliated with any official party.“Why shouldn’t Alaskans find it insulting that the administration is suggesting they can’t read the word ‘incumbent’ on their ballot and know to vote for Senator Sullivan?” a reporter asked Vance at Joint Base Andrews Tuesday morning.Vance’s explanation wasn’t particularly satisfying.“I think the question presumes quite a bit. I mean, look, a lot of Alaskans are going to go and look at the ballot and realize exactly what you said, that this is all a big fraud,” Vance said, claiming the reporter said something that he did not.But the vice president’s answer only went downhill from there as he suggested that Alaskans are so overwhelmed by the burden of daily labor that they don’t have the time to properly read election ballots.“But people are busy. People have lives. People have jobs. And when you put a person on the ballot, explicitly to try and confuse voters, I think that’s electoral fraud,” Vance added.Q: Why shouldn't Alaskans find it insulting that the administration is suggesting they can't read the word 'incumbent' on their ballot and know to vote for Sen. Sullivan? JD VANCE: People are busy. People have lives. People have jobs. https://t.co/QFXBtu3cEB— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 27, 2026 The second Sullivan initially filed to run as a Republican in the Senate primary in May, days before the filing deadline. State Republicans have since argued that Sullivan worked with Democrats to cook up the scheme, accusing him of attempting to snatch votes away from the two-term senator in a flagrant bid to aid Mary Peltola, a former U.S. representative and the Democratic nominee.But the unaffiliated politico has rejected the allegations.“I entered this race because I am unhappy with the 12 year record of the current Senator and I feel we need a change,” Sullivan wrote in a social media post at the time. “It’s that simple.”Read more about the lawsuit:Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith got spooked at a rally in her home state of Mississippi with President Trump Monday.Hyde-Smith, who is up for reelection next week, was supposed to speak after Trump introduced her but upon reaching the podium, she said one sentence and then bolted.“Is this not the best president of our lifetime?” Hyde-Smith told the crowd, before stepping down. Trump quickly attempted to spin her abrupt departure.“Thank you, Cindy. I love that, you know? Sometimes they get up and they talk for 10 minutes,” Trump said.BREAKING: In an embarrassing moment, Republican Cindy Hyde Smith gets too scared to speak at her own rally and leaves after just two seconds. https://t.co/m4CXdHjdCc— Really American 🇺🇸 (@ReallyAmerican1) October 27, 2026 Despite the rally being held in a Southern, staunchly Republican state, Trump was interrupted at least three times by hecklers during his own speech, including one who shouted, “Shove that ballroom up your fat ass!” While Trump dismissed the protester as being “paid $250 by [George] Soros,” it seems Hyde-Smith was scared to be on the stage with Trump for too long.Trump’s historic unpopularity is bringing the entire Republican Party down, putting safe states like Mississippi in play. Anti-Trump protesters would have been unheard of in the Magnolia State in previous years, but the president’s policies have caused a backlash even in deep red states.Hyde-Smith’s reelection campaign wasn’t going well before this rally. In February, in response to people upset over high beef prices, she said, “You know you have so many proteins to choose from.” That was quickly seized upon by her Democratic opponent, Scott Colom, who put out an attack ad where a man grilling burgers said, “Pick another protein? I’d rather pick another senator instead.” Colom trails Hyde-Smith by only three points in the latest poll. FBI Director Kash Patel has been accused of threatening staff charged with redacting the government’s files on Jeffrey Epstein, and using their mistakes as an excuse to fire them. In a complaint made in March 2025 and obtained and published Tuesday by The PunchUp, a whistleblower who worked for the FBI’s Information Management Division described the chaotic, high-pressure process of readacting the Epstein files for release. “The director has threatened to fire [FBI staff] if the job is not done by his made up deadline, and has already tried to slim down the FBI,” the whistleblower wrote. “What better way than to fire us during this ever changing process, or as scapegoats for the DOJ’s lack of proper procedures.”The complaint came as the Department of Justice shed thousands of employees.John Sullivan, former section chief in the intelligence division, told The New York Times in January that Patel had berated employees on the redaction team during a conference call, telling them to work faster and that he’d fire anyone who didn’t meet his deadlines—a claim that is now reinforced by the whistleblower’s accusation.The whistleblower also warned that reviewers were not removing personal information that could be used to identify bureau employees, and that details they’d be instructed to leave unredacted could expose survivors’ identities. The whistleblower raised concerns that the DOJ would publish the material without further checks and blame the FBI for any mistakes. “I am concerned that the rush deadline on the project, for no [discernible] reason, will lead to mistakes that could destroy people’s lives,” they wrote.Catherine Sheehan Bruno, assistant FBI director and chief ethics and compliance officer, responded to the complaint on March 24, 2025, saying she was obliged to report the allegations. The following day, an FBI lawyer confirmed that the employee was willing to be identified to the inspector general. Then the FBI closed its own case. It’s unclear whether the inspector general took the matter any further or whether anyone charged with reviewing the Epstein files was subsequently fired. In the end, there were thousands of redaction errors in the DOJ’s massive release of Epstein-related documents, which allegedly exposed the names of at least 100 survivors. Nearly 40 nude photos of women, possibly underage, were mistakenly released unredacted, while an innocuous photo of President Donald Trump somehow was redacted. Read more about the Epstein files: