Professor Emeritus William C. Banks recently spoke with CNN for the article “How Trump is banking on 18th-century laws for his border and citizenship promises.”
The Supreme Court has generally deferred to the president’s judgment to invoke the Insurrection Act, which Trump may use to justify deploying the military to deport undocumented immigrants.
“There isn’t much of a historical set of precedents to interpret laws like the Insurrection Act,” Banks said. “And the reason, ironically, is that the courts have given such a wide berth to the president to make the call about when it’s and when it’s not necessary to use the military.”
The 1807 law, Banks said gives the president “enough discretion that he could drive a truck through” its requirements to deploy the military at home, such as for immigration enforcement.
“The act allows him to do a lot on his own,” Banks added, “with very few procedural hurdles.”