The White House has made clear that non-citizens in the United States, regardless of how long they have lived in the country or the dangers they face at home, have no right to defend themselves before being detained and expelled. The Trump administration is undermining the fundamental right to due process from several directions, including intimidating law firms, defying judges, and attempting to defund children’s attorneys.
The effect is to streamline deportations, but critics warn that this makes it more likely that mistakes will separate families or return victims to their persecutors. One US circuit judge noted that “Nazis got better treatment” during the Second World War than the hundreds of Venezuelans recently sent to El Salvador’s maximum-security prison without court hearings.
In other legally dubious moves, Trump has ended the right to seek asylum at the US-Mexico border, paused green card processing for refugees and some Cubans, and sent migrants to Guantánamo Bay, where detainees report being shackled and beaten. The administration has systematically attacked lawyers and judges who serve as the last line of defence against wrongful detention.
On 22 March, Trump issued a memorandum to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, alleging that lawyers “frequently coach clients to conceal their past or lie about their circumstances” and demanding sanctions against attorneys. He also threatened to revoke security clearances and federal contracts for firms that challenge his policies.
The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) called the memo “chilling, unfounded and dangerous”, but its president, Kelli Stump, declared: “AILA and its members will not be intimidated.” Non-citizens have no right to counsel in immigration court, making legal representation critical. Many law firms that previously offered pro bono work have fallen silent, and Paul, Weiss has caved to Trump’s demands.
