Trump’s Pretense Of Following The Law. And What We Can Do About It. – Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance

Trump’s Pretense Of Following The Law. And What We Can Do About It.

By Joyce Vance, Jul 08, 2025

Trump‘s effort to shut down asylum applications by declaring an “invasion” at the southern was rejected by a federal district judge last Wednesday. In reviewing the Judge’s decision, something unrelated, at least not directly, to the issue at hand caught my eye. It’s how careful Trump is to try to cloak these sorts of extreme actions in the legitimacy of the law.

In the Proclamation, “GUARANTEEING THE STATES PROTECTION AGAINST INVASION,” that Trump issued on his first day in office, the one that prevents migrants from seeking asylum based on the assertion that there is no way to assess the risk they present, he wrapped the constitution and the laws around himself like armor. The proclamation starts out with Trump advising: “By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby proclaim…” And then he guts asylum.

He reiterates his authority midway through, proclaiming:

“By the power vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, I have determined that the current situation at the southern border qualifies as an invasion under Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution of the United States. Accordingly, I am issuing this Proclamation based on my express and inherent powers in Article II of the Constitution of the United States, and in faithful execution of the immigration laws passed by the Congress, and suspending the physical entry of aliens involved in an invasion into the United States across the southern border until I determine that the invasion has concluded.”

Sure, this is unremarkable to some extent. Presidents are supposed to cite to (or better yet, know and understand) the legal authority they have to act. This would have been unsurprising in an executive order issued by Bush, Obama, or Biden. But here, it’s worth noting. The spoiler is the inclusion of “in faithful execution of the immigration laws passed by Congress” when what he’s doing is not such thing. Much of what Trump does pushes the limits of his Article II powers or encroaches on the powers of other branches of government. When we talk about it, we couch it in those terms: unlawful, unconstitutional.

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