On Wednesday, the Supreme Court was struggling and divided. The issue was the resolution of a dispute on whether the US government should continue to hold undocumented immigrants without a hearing for longer than six months, or if they should be allowed to seek release while waiting for deportation proceedings to begin.
The case has gained extra importance given the expectation that immigration enforcement will be ramped up by President-Elect, Donald Trump, when he takes charge of the White House, in January 2017. This is likely to increase the number of people being held in detention. Conservative judges were skeptical during an hour-long argument. The four liberals on the Supreme Court appeared to support automatic eligibility for an immigration hearing for undocumented immigrants who are held longer than six months. That could result in the release of undocumented immigrants pending the outcome of their cases.
The court, which is still short of one justice, could end in deadlock as a result of ideological differences. This would result in a 2015 ruling by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which, itself, upheld an injunction placed by a lower court to require hearings after six months in detention, remaining in place.
The justices were asked to decide the case by the Obama administration. The administration insists that, while hearings are sometimes permissible, they are against any kind of blanket rule that this gives automatic support.