Trump’s court battles mirror Australia’s own
The US president’s clash with the judiciary over deportation mirrors Australia’s decades-long struggle with the politics and law of immigration.
Donald Trump is learning the hard way that when governments test the limits of executive power — and try to bypass the legislature or the courts — they usually lose.
Judges are striking down the US president’s executive orders on law firms, blocking his tariffs and putting the brakes on the deportation of so-called “criminal aliens” over due process concerns.
Trump has chosen the path favoured by populists the world over: complaining about “activist” judges thwarting the will of the people. He has also turned on those who advised him on judicial appointments, calling Federalist Society luminary Leonard Leo “a bad person who probably hates America”.
Similar battles — especially over immigration — have played out in Australia over the past 30 years, beginning with Labor’s introduction of mandatory detention in 1992 following an influx of "boat people" from Vietnam and Cambodia.
