Immigration Article of the Day: Immigrants and the Battle for Our Nation in the Courts by Raquel E. Aldana

Immigrants and the Battle for Our Nation in the Courts by Raquel E. Aldana, 57 Pacific Law Review 353 (2026)

Here is Professor Aldana's summary of her article:

"In this essay, I document this broader story of how litigants in the immigration and citizenship space, and the social movements who support them, are standing up to the Trump administration, both to preserve the rights of their clients and to preserve the rule of law and democracy. In telling this story, I explain why, despite the immigration plenary power doctrine, which has largely shielded political actors from constitutional scrutiny, litigants are overcoming both procedural and substantive barriers to score important wins. These wins have not stopped but have slowed down the Trump administration’s abuses of power that expand executive power well beyond what Congress has authorized. They have also served to contest false narratives about immigrants by documenting their stories that would otherwise be invisible to the public. I also explain why lower federal court judges are ruling largely in favor of immigrants and against the Trump administration, guided by rule of law concerns and long-standing legal principles that tame our worst instincts as a nation when we have unfairly blamed, dehumanized, and trampled on immigrants. Part I explains the types of challenges being waged in the federal courts in the immigration and citizenship cases with a focus on the plaintiffs, the lawyers, and the legal strategies employed. Part II turns to the courts and examines how judges, beyond the U.S. Supreme Court, are ruling in cases to date. The record is mixed but still leans more heavily on the side of immigrants and citizens. I conclude in Part III with a few broad reflections on some key lessons offered by this early and broader landscape of the role of the judiciary in preserving democracy, the rule, of law, and human dignity." (footnotes omitted).