Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
Senior Fellow at the American Immigration Council. Commenting generally on immigration law and policy. Retweets =/= endorsements, views are my own.
There are multiple obvious, easily-proven lies in this diatribe.
Trump’s primetime diatribe against immigrants is straight up unvarnished Nazi stuff
December 18, 2025 at 2:48 AM
There are multiple obvious, easily-proven lies in this diatribe.
Reposted by Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
In response to SSRN's removal of Professor Edwards's "The Originalist Case for the President's Power to Pardon State Offenses," I have posted "A Response to SSRN's Removal of Jerry Edwards's 'The Originalist Case for the President's Power to Pardon State Offenses'"
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
![On December 11, 2025, President Donald J. Trump announced a pardon for former Mesa County, Colorado, Clerk Tina Peters. A veritable mob of critics emerged to condemn the pardon as unlawful, illegal, not allowed, and fundamentally inconsistent with the narrowly circumscribed powers of the President to “grant pardons and reprieves for Offenses against the United States,” which clearly refers to federal offenses. 1 In response to the hullabaloo, Professor Jerry Edwards bravely “survey[ed] hundreds of years of history in the past few days” and wrote an article “assessing the originalist case.”2 Professor Edwards made the regrettable mistake of posting his article to the Social Science Research Network (“SSRN”), which concluded that his “manuscript [did] not meet the criteria for posting on SSRN” and subsequently removed it3—demonstrating yet another instance of well-documented bias against originalist legal scholarship.4 To the untrained scholar, Professor Edwards’s scholarship may have seemed like he just copied and pasted the lyrics to Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up”5 into a Word document, which spanned approximately a page and a half, and conducted no originalist analysis. Even if Professor Edwards did just that,6 characterizing this discussion as somehow unfitting of other works in the originalist oeuvre7 is, yet again, anti-originalist bias. In this brief essay, which was rushedly written to ensure that the whole commentariat was aware of the “entire literature that disagrees”8 with the notion that the President cannot pardon state crimes, I analyze the lyrics of “Never Gonna Give You Up.” I conclude that it has as direct, helpful, and material a bearing on originalist jurisprudence on the President’s pardon power as any leading originalist scholar could muster.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:q3dycka5ce2gybcbau5gfehd/bafkreiciwxwj5gbuomhmhbkn4gncsoy5icfxwyxijxyzm5hw6q5v4xxj3y@jpeg)
December 17, 2025 at 10:11 PM
In response to SSRN's removal of Professor Edwards's "The Originalist Case for the President's Power to Pardon State Offenses," I have posted "A Response to SSRN's Removal of Jerry Edwards's 'The Originalist Case for the President's Power to Pardon State Offenses'"
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Reposted by Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
The Supreme Court has strict limits on denaturalization that are deeply rooted in protections guaranteed by the 1st and 14th Amendments. Here's how they got there: bit.ly/4rh6WJT
How the Supreme Court Rejected Denaturalization as a Political Weapon Long Ago
New threats to strip opponents of citizenship recall a dark history.
www.brennancenter.org
November 29, 2025 at 11:03 PM
The Supreme Court has strict limits on denaturalization that are deeply rooted in protections guaranteed by the 1st and 14th Amendments. Here's how they got there: bit.ly/4rh6WJT
This is such a wild take and I say that as a white guy who reaps clear (and unfair) benefits from my race and gender in the work that I do.
You know how many times someone’s threatened to rape me because I posted something they didn’t like? Not once! You know how often that happens to women? A lot!
You know how many times someone’s threatened to rape me because I posted something they didn’t like? Not once! You know how often that happens to women? A lot!
If you think the system doesn't seem interested in rewarding white guys at all that seems to be an issue of your media diet and not a reflection of reality
December 17, 2025 at 11:34 PM
This is such a wild take and I say that as a white guy who reaps clear (and unfair) benefits from my race and gender in the work that I do.
You know how many times someone’s threatened to rape me because I posted something they didn’t like? Not once! You know how often that happens to women? A lot!
You know how many times someone’s threatened to rape me because I posted something they didn’t like? Not once! You know how often that happens to women? A lot!
Reposted by Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
Common misconception, but practically everyone we saw today all over the north suburbs and at O’Hare was actually border patrol just like their commander, Greg Bovino, who was on the scene at the airport rideshare lot and at various big box store parking lots from Evanston to Mount Prospect
I fucking hate ICE so fucking much
Border patrol under command of Greg Bovino running a checkpoint at the exit to the Uber lot at O’Hare airport in Chicago, asking drivers for proof of valid residency in this country
December 17, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Common misconception, but practically everyone we saw today all over the north suburbs and at O’Hare was actually border patrol just like their commander, Greg Bovino, who was on the scene at the airport rideshare lot and at various big box store parking lots from Evanston to Mount Prospect
Reposted by Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
With much of the attention on the Bovino/Biss confrontation, Berwyn Cicero RR is now reporting feds took *twelve* people from their area today: instagram.com/p/DSYSxvakp4T
Berwyn-Cicero Rapid Response Network on Instagram: "Le pedimos que se unen con nosotros hoy a las 6 afuera de La Chiquita para una vigilia dedicada a las 12 personas secuestradas hoy en Cicero por la ...
422 likes, 3 comments - berwyncicerorapidresponse on December 17, 2025: "Le pedimos que se unen con nosotros hoy a las 6 afuera de La Chiquita para una vigilia dedicada a las 12 personas secuestradas ...
instagram.com
December 17, 2025 at 11:18 PM
With much of the attention on the Bovino/Biss confrontation, Berwyn Cicero RR is now reporting feds took *twelve* people from their area today: instagram.com/p/DSYSxvakp4T
The Trump admin says it aims to file 100-200 denaturalization cases per month, a huge increase. But these cases are hard to file and win, and require a lot of DOJ resources, and the DOJ is incredibly stretched thin already. So we’ll see; I have serious doubts about their ability to do this.
What this will mean, in practice, that if you are deemed an enemy of the administration, they will pore through your citizenship application paperwork looking for some reason to retroactively disqualify you.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/u...
Trump Administration Aims to Strip More Foreign-Born Americans of Citizenship
www.nytimes.com
December 17, 2025 at 11:00 PM
The Trump admin says it aims to file 100-200 denaturalization cases per month, a huge increase. But these cases are hard to file and win, and require a lot of DOJ resources, and the DOJ is incredibly stretched thin already. So we’ll see; I have serious doubts about their ability to do this.
Anecdotal evidence that the indefinite "pause" on adjudication of immigration benefits for countries on the travel ban has been expanded to include the 20 countries added yesterday. On reddit, a user posted that their naturalization oath ceremony — the final step to becoming a citizen — was halted.
December 17, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Anecdotal evidence that the indefinite "pause" on adjudication of immigration benefits for countries on the travel ban has been expanded to include the 20 countries added yesterday. On reddit, a user posted that their naturalization oath ceremony — the final step to becoming a citizen — was halted.
Total victory on this issue; members of Congress will again have the right to conduct surprise inspections of ICE detention centers.
NEW: Judge blocks Trump administration's attempt to limit lawmakers' access to immigration jails. Advance notice no longer required & detention facilities at field offices are open to Congress. w/ @kyledcheney.bsky.social www.politico.com/news/2025/12...
Judge lifts Trump administration limits on lawmaker visits to ICE jails
A federal judge ruled that ICE cannot enforce newly adopted policies that require lawmakers to provide seven days notice before visiting detention facilities.
www.politico.com
December 17, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Total victory on this issue; members of Congress will again have the right to conduct surprise inspections of ICE detention centers.
Reposted by Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
A former immigration judge alleged to DOJ that Trump fired her bc of her sex & national origin
DOJ said equal employment opportunity laws don't supersede Trump's removal powers under Article II
this is literally a claim to constitutional power to discriminate
ballsandstrikes.org/law-politics...
DOJ said equal employment opportunity laws don't supersede Trump's removal powers under Article II
this is literally a claim to constitutional power to discriminate
ballsandstrikes.org/law-politics...
How the Trump Administration Is Quietly Resegregating the American Workforce
The Justice Department’s rollback of disparate impact is just one new policy that makes it harder for people of color to challenge illegal discrimination.
ballsandstrikes.org
December 17, 2025 at 6:34 PM
A former immigration judge alleged to DOJ that Trump fired her bc of her sex & national origin
DOJ said equal employment opportunity laws don't supersede Trump's removal powers under Article II
this is literally a claim to constitutional power to discriminate
ballsandstrikes.org/law-politics...
DOJ said equal employment opportunity laws don't supersede Trump's removal powers under Article II
this is literally a claim to constitutional power to discriminate
ballsandstrikes.org/law-politics...
Reposted by Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
NEW: Humanitarian officials staged a last-minute plea to Trump officials at their fancy hotel to re-start food aid $ for a huge refugee camp in Kenya.
The Trumpers blew it off and babies starved.
@annamaria.bsky.social & Brett Murphy
www.propublica.org/article/keny...
The Trumpers blew it off and babies starved.
@annamaria.bsky.social & Brett Murphy
www.propublica.org/article/keny...
December 17, 2025 at 12:36 PM
NEW: Humanitarian officials staged a last-minute plea to Trump officials at their fancy hotel to re-start food aid $ for a huge refugee camp in Kenya.
The Trumpers blew it off and babies starved.
@annamaria.bsky.social & Brett Murphy
www.propublica.org/article/keny...
The Trumpers blew it off and babies starved.
@annamaria.bsky.social & Brett Murphy
www.propublica.org/article/keny...
DHS gave a $1 billion contract to a politically-connected donor whose company had never received a federal contract before, in a process led by a political appointee to DHS who had held a senior position at a MAGA-linked org (the American First Policy Institute) which gave the guy an award in 2024.
DHS fast-tracked $1 billion contract to pro-Trump donor’s company
A DHS official leading the process previously worked at the America First Policy Institute, a pro-Trump nonprofit where the contractor’s CEO was a donor.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 17, 2025 at 5:00 PM
DHS gave a $1 billion contract to a politically-connected donor whose company had never received a federal contract before, in a process led by a political appointee to DHS who had held a senior position at a MAGA-linked org (the American First Policy Institute) which gave the guy an award in 2024.
DC statehood now.
DC Cir. will allow the continued deployment of National Guard troops in D.C. while the litigation continues.
Decision rests on idea that D.C. has no sovereignty (or federalism interest) of its own bc it is not a state.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Decision rests on idea that D.C. has no sovereignty (or federalism interest) of its own bc it is not a state.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
![The District of Columbia, in contrast, is a federal district, not a sovereign State. From its inception, the District has been a creation of Congress. See U.S. CONST. Art. I, § 8, cl. 17 (vesting Congress with the power “[t]o exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District * * * as may * * * become the Seat of Government of the United States”). And not just a federal district, but also the Nation’s Capital—a jurisdiction in which Congress has distinctive power to provide for the defense of the operations and property of the federal government.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:24vva42nxim6zbcmnozegoef/bafkreiduu334jmbcannco2umj5xadaxgbhvpktvqbjjkdzdnwxnunung7y@jpeg)
December 17, 2025 at 4:15 PM
DC statehood now.
Reposted by Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
DC Cir. will allow the continued deployment of National Guard troops in D.C. while the litigation continues.
Decision rests on idea that D.C. has no sovereignty (or federalism interest) of its own bc it is not a state.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Decision rests on idea that D.C. has no sovereignty (or federalism interest) of its own bc it is not a state.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
December 17, 2025 at 4:10 PM
DC Cir. will allow the continued deployment of National Guard troops in D.C. while the litigation continues.
Decision rests on idea that D.C. has no sovereignty (or federalism interest) of its own bc it is not a state.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Decision rests on idea that D.C. has no sovereignty (or federalism interest) of its own bc it is not a state.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Reposted by Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
House Democrats have succeeded in forcing a vote to stop massive ACA premium hikes and prevent New Jersey families from losing their health coverage.
This bill should be brought to the floor TODAY.
This bill should be brought to the floor TODAY.
Urgent update.
Our bipartisan petition to force a vote on a straightforward extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits now has 218 signatures.
Mike Johnson should bring the bill to the floor immediately.
Our bipartisan petition to force a vote on a straightforward extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits now has 218 signatures.
Mike Johnson should bring the bill to the floor immediately.
December 17, 2025 at 3:59 PM
House Democrats have succeeded in forcing a vote to stop massive ACA premium hikes and prevent New Jersey families from losing their health coverage.
This bill should be brought to the floor TODAY.
This bill should be brought to the floor TODAY.
Reposted by Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
NEW: Pardoned January 6 rioters have been advising Justice Department officials how to pursue – and perhaps prosecute – the very prosecutors who helped put them behind bars.
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
December 17, 2025 at 2:32 PM
NEW: Pardoned January 6 rioters have been advising Justice Department officials how to pursue – and perhaps prosecute – the very prosecutors who helped put them behind bars.
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
Reposted by Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
"University" founded entirely by free speech warriors who could only actualize themselves via self-cancellation from actual institutions now gutted by wave of self-cancellations.
CBS News staffers might want to check into how things are going at their boss’s anti-woke “university” in Austin.
Via @ngluckman.bsky.social
www.chronicle.com/article/at-t...
Via @ngluckman.bsky.social
www.chronicle.com/article/at-t...
December 17, 2025 at 2:31 PM
"University" founded entirely by free speech warriors who could only actualize themselves via self-cancellation from actual institutions now gutted by wave of self-cancellations.
Short version: chasing the hardline party’s voters without any real principles of your own makes you lose your own base and convince fence-sitters to support the hardline party, not you.
What the Democrats can learn from the UK Labour Party's complete implosion after moving right on immigration
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/the-cost-o...
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/the-cost-o...
December 17, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Short version: chasing the hardline party’s voters without any real principles of your own makes you lose your own base and convince fence-sitters to support the hardline party, not you.
Reposted by Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
What the Democrats can learn from the UK Labour Party's complete implosion after moving right on immigration
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/the-cost-o...
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/the-cost-o...
December 17, 2025 at 1:01 PM
What the Democrats can learn from the UK Labour Party's complete implosion after moving right on immigration
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/the-cost-o...
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/the-cost-o...
Reposted by Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
This tracks with my experience. DHS made up stories like this in Chicago, too. Every story ICE told about being attacked by community members was debunked in court. To assume anything they say is even potentially credible is irresponsible and out of touch with reality.
Re: the ICE actions in south Minneapolis Monday. DHS said "rioters" attacked officers with rocks and pepper spray. Note: I received lots of evidence and didn't see any rocks, the only pepper spray I saw was ICE agents sometimes spraying each other. I did see snow and possibly ice being thrown. (1)
December 17, 2025 at 4:00 AM
This tracks with my experience. DHS made up stories like this in Chicago, too. Every story ICE told about being attacked by community members was debunked in court. To assume anything they say is even potentially credible is irresponsible and out of touch with reality.
Reposted by Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
I don’t put too much stock in arguments that this administration wants war with Venezuela specifically to jumpstart mass deportations because (1) we already live in a world of kavanaugh stops—they don’t need a costly pretext to terrorize people; (2) each bad vizier probably has a different reason
December 17, 2025 at 4:13 AM
I don’t put too much stock in arguments that this administration wants war with Venezuela specifically to jumpstart mass deportations because (1) we already live in a world of kavanaugh stops—they don’t need a costly pretext to terrorize people; (2) each bad vizier probably has a different reason
Reposted by Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
Update: A Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman says those held included people “with criminal histories for homicide, kidnapping, assault, battery, obstructing law enforcement and cruelty toward a child.” We still have no names so can’t search for criminal records.
SCOOP: The ICE detention operation at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is back in business after a two-month hiatus -- with the arrival of 22 Cubans from Louisiana who are designated for deportation. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/u...
U.S. Sends Cubans to Naval Station at Guantánamo Bay
www.nytimes.com
December 17, 2025 at 2:38 AM
Update: A Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman says those held included people “with criminal histories for homicide, kidnapping, assault, battery, obstructing law enforcement and cruelty toward a child.” We still have no names so can’t search for criminal records.
Reposted by Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
not giving the impression of being on the ball
www.cnn.com/2025/12/16/a...
www.cnn.com/2025/12/16/a...
Second near midair collision reported near Venezuela involving US Air Force tanker | CNN
“They were really close,” one of the pilots told controllers of the encounter at approximately 26,000 feet. “We were climbing right into him.”
www.cnn.com
December 17, 2025 at 2:35 AM
not giving the impression of being on the ball
www.cnn.com/2025/12/16/a...
www.cnn.com/2025/12/16/a...
Reposted by Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
Venezuela is not completely surrounded by an armada, because Venezuela is not an island.
Also, Venezuela nationalized its oil industry in 1976, when Hugo Chávez was 21 and Nicolás Maduro was 13.
Also, Venezuela nationalized its oil industry in 1976, when Hugo Chávez was 21 and Nicolás Maduro was 13.
Trump: "Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled ... It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before — Until such time as they return to the USA all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us."
December 17, 2025 at 2:42 AM
Venezuela is not completely surrounded by an armada, because Venezuela is not an island.
Also, Venezuela nationalized its oil industry in 1976, when Hugo Chávez was 21 and Nicolás Maduro was 13.
Also, Venezuela nationalized its oil industry in 1976, when Hugo Chávez was 21 and Nicolás Maduro was 13.
A reminder tonight that Venezuela has nothing to do with fentanyl. The vast majority of the fentanyl supply begins as precursor chemicals in China, is manufactured in Mexico, and makes it to the U.S. by land, mostly smuggled by U.S. citizens hiding it within lawful trade and traffic at entry points.
Fentanyl smuggling: Most seizures occur at ports of entry where U.S. citizens are the primary smugglers - American Immigration Council
Most fentanyl enters the U.S. through ports of entry, not via migrants. U.S. citizens are the primary smugglers, often recruited by criminal networks. Effective solutions focus on better screening at ...
www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org
December 17, 2025 at 2:00 AM
A reminder tonight that Venezuela has nothing to do with fentanyl. The vast majority of the fentanyl supply begins as precursor chemicals in China, is manufactured in Mexico, and makes it to the U.S. by land, mostly smuggled by U.S. citizens hiding it within lawful trade and traffic at entry points.