WASHINGTON, D.C., June 23, 2026 – Today the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Blanche v. Lau, ruling 6–3 that immigration officials can deny green-card holders readmission to the country if they simply suspect that they have committed a crime. In this case, Muk Choi Lau, a Chinese citizen, was attempting to reenter the U.S., where he was already a lawful resident, but was blocked from doing so because he was facing a criminal counterfeit charge — though he had not yet been tried or convicted. His green card status was essentially revoked and he was treated as if he’d never been admitted to the country. This change to his status was then applied when he later pleaded guilty, denying him the formal deportation process he was entitled to as a lawful permanent resident.
Writing for the conservative majority, Justice Thomas explains that this practice was just fine. The majority concludes that the Immigration and Nationality Act “does not require a border officer to have clear and convincing evidence that a lawful permanent resident has committed a crime.” Even though Lau had only left temporarily, Thomas insists that upon his return, the government “correctly regarded Lau as an applicant for admission.” As a green card holder, however, he should already have been admitted.
Justice Jackson makes this clear in her dissent for the liberal justices. When a lawful permanent resident (LPR) like Lau returns from an international trip, “border offices are required by statute to treat an LPR as already admitted unless one of six exceptions applies.” One of those exceptions is if they have “committed an offense.” But in Lau’s case, the government revoked his green card protections first and only justified doing so after the fact. In short, he was considered guilty before guilt had been proven.
Alliance for Justice President Rachel Rossi issued the following statement:
“Last year, this Court gave us ‘Kavanaugh stops,’ inviting immigration officials to detain individuals simply for their perceived ethnicity, language, or job. Now the Court gives us ‘Thomas deportations.’ It has handed the Trump administration yet another trick for skirting the law and enforcing its xenophobic agenda. If the government wants to revoke someone’s green card, now all it has to do is accuse that person of a crime, regardless of whether they’d ever be found guilty of it. Given Trump’s eagerness to weaponize the law to attack his opponents — with judges and grand juries increasingly rejecting federal charges for lack of evidence —we must now be on the lookout for manufactured ‘Thomas deportations’ targeting lawful green card holders as a new and twisted immigration scheme.”