On Wednesday, the US Supreme Court tackled the issue regarding the detention of illegal immigrants caught by the authorities and the issue regarding their eligibility to seek for release through a hearing after a certain period.
The justices were divided over the issue, especially when it comes to immigrants detained for more than six months while their deportation takes place. This issue is takes presidence as the President-elect Donald Trump is expected to boost America's immigration enforcement once he assumes office on January 20.
In the one-hour argument before the justices, it appeared that the court would end up reaching a 4-4 deadlock as four liberal justices are backing the hearings while the four conservative justices are against hearings. Should this deadlock occur, it would leave in place an October 2015 ruling by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals that retained a lower-court injunction requiring a hearing after six months of detection.
The class action litigation by the American Civil Liberties Union has been under trial for a long time and it includes immigrants who were held at the border when seeking illegal entry to the country and legal permanent residents who have been convicted of crimes.
The court has the option to avoid a tie breaker by waiting for the replacement of conservative justice Antonin Scalia, who passed away in February once Trump assumes office. The Senate has denied acting on reviewing outgoing President Barack Obama's candidate for the vacant position. Once Trump is in office and a replacement is named, then they could rehear the case.
