{"id":248,"date":"2026-06-23T22:16:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T22:16:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=248"},"modified":"2026-06-23T22:16:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T22:16:29","slug":"court-sides-with-government-in-dispute-over-rights-of-green-card-holders-accused-of-committing-a-crime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=248","title":{"rendered":"Court sides with government in dispute over rights of green card holders accused of committing a crime"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Supreme Court on Tuesday in Blanche v. Lau<\/em> cleared the way for immigration officers to more freely deny lawful permanent residents \u2013 also known as green card holders \u2013 admission into the United States. By a vote of 6-3, the court, in an from Justice Clarence Thomas, held that federal immigration law does not require border officers to have \u201cclear and convincing evidence\u201d that green card holders have committed a disqualifying crime before preventing them from reentering the country for an indefinite stay.<\/p>\n

Read more Justices reject constitutional attack on foreclosure rules<\/a><\/p>\n

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, in an opinion joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Jackson asserted that the court\u2019s opinion undermines \u201cthe benefits and security that come with having a green card\u201d and wrote that she is worried that the court has \u201chanded the Government a massive blank check\u201d to put lawful permanent residents in \u201cimmigration limbo.\u201d<\/p>\n

The case stemmed from a June 2012 encounter between immigration officers and Muk Choi Lau, a Chinese citizen and lawful permanent resident of the United States who, one month earlier, had been charged under New Jersey law for allegedly selling nearly $300,000 worth of counterfeit shorts. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, lawful permanent residents such as Lau are typically admitted into the country \u2013 that is, allowed to enter and stay indefinitely \u2013 after a short trip abroad. They are only to be treated as \u201cseeking an admission\u201d under a few exceptions, such as when they have \u201ccommitted\u201d \u201ca crime involving\u00a0moral turpitude\u201d \u2013 that is, a dishonest or immoral act, such as fraud or theft. Because of this exception, immigration officers paroled Lau rather than admitting him. He could enter the U.S. to face prosecution, but the officers deferred consideration of his eligibility for admission.<\/p>\n

One year later, Lau pleaded guilty to trademark counterfeiting, and he was convicted and sentenced to two years\u2019 probation. The Department of Homeland Security then began removal proceedings on the ground that Lau\u2019s conviction made him ineligible for admission under the INA. Lau fought his removal, contending that he had been \u201cimproperly classified\u201d by immigration officers in June 2012 and should have been admitted, which would have forced the government to treat him as a lawful permanent resident and seek to remove him on the ground that he was deportable.<\/p>\n

An immigration judge and the Board of Immigration Appeals rejected that argument, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit agreed with Lau. Immigration officers, the 2nd Circuit held, must have \u201cclear and convincing\u201d evidence that a disqualifying crime has been committed to decline to admit a lawful permanent resident into the country, and the immigration officers considering Lau\u2019s reentry did not.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court vacated the 2nd Circuit\u2019s decision, holding that border officers do not need to meet the \u201cclear and convincing evidence\u201d standard to treat a lawful permanent resident who has been charged with a crime of moral turpitude as a candidate for admission. \u201cNothing in the INA imposes\u201d that burden, Thomas wrote in the nine-page majority opinion. It came, instead, \u201cfrom inapposite Board of Immigration Appeals precedent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Justices send compensation dispute over seized home back to lower court<\/a><\/p>\n

That BIA precedent, Thomas continued, addressed the evidence the government must have during a removal hearing, not during an encounter at the border. He rejected Lau\u2019s assertion \u201cthat the Government \u2018expressly\u2019 conceded\u201d that this evidence standard applied at the border, explaining that the government had made that concession only with regard to removal proceedings. The court was also unconvinced, Thomas explained, by Lau\u2019s claim that a lawful permanent resident cannot be found to have committed a crime involving moral turpitude until he is convicted of such a crime. \u201cA straightforward reading of the text contradicts Lau\u2019s interpretation,\u201d Thomas wrote, because \u201cthe Government may regard a lawful permanent resident as seeking admission as soon as he \u2018committed<\/em> a\u2019 crime involving moral turpitude \u2018even if (as in [Lau\u2019s] case) the conviction<\/em> occurred\u2019 later.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe decline to read into the INA an additional clear-and-convincing-evidence burden on border officers entrusted with making \u2018quick judgments on the spot\u2019 when that burden is nowhere in the statute or even Board precedent,\u201d Thomas concluded.<\/p>\n

In her 17-page dissent, Jackson argued that the \u201ctext, structure, and context\u201d of the INA should have led the court to a different conclusion. \u201c[U]nder the plain terms of the statute,\u201d she wrote, the government has \u201cno discretion\u201d to deny a lawful permanent resident admission into the country when it does not yet have evidence to justify that decision. \u201c[T]he removal hearing\u2014which can come months, or even years, after the LPR is demoted to \u2018seeking an admission\u2019 status and paroled in\u2014is too late for the Government to carry its burden,\u201d according to Jackson.<\/p>\n

Jackson emphasized what was at stake for lawful permanent residents, asserting that \u201c[a] demotion to the status of \u2018seeking an admission\u2019 is not costless,\u201d because it makes it possible for them to \u201cbe immediately detained or paroled.\u201d \u201cThe downsides of detention are obvious,\u201d Jackson continued, and parole can also lead to \u201cserious negative repercussions,\u201d including a loss of one\u2019s permanent green card and the ability to work.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a fundamental maxim in our country that all are innocent until proven guilty,\u201d Jackson wrote. And yet, \u201cLau was divested of his already-admitted status, deemed an applicant for admission, and paroled solely on the basis of\u201d an indictment. \u201cCongress could not have meant for the guarantees\u201d afforded to lawful permanent residents \u201cto be so cavalierly swept aside,\u201d Jackson concluded.<\/p>\n

Read more Court rules for Exxon Mobil in Cuban confiscation case<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Supreme Court on Tuesday in Blanche v. Lau cleared the way for immigration officers to more freely deny lawful permanent residents \u2013 also known as green card holders \u2013 admission into the United States. By a vote of 6-3, the court, in an from Justice Clarence Thomas, held that federal immigration law does not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion-analysis"],"yoast_head":"\nCourt sides with government in dispute over rights of green card holders accused of committing a crime - American Service Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=248\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Court sides with government in dispute over rights of green card holders accused of committing a crime - American Service Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Supreme Court on Tuesday in Blanche v. 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