House Democrat tries to corner the wrong person to help Biden — but it's a former judge with all the right answers

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) learned on Thursday that he should be better prepared the next time he wants to interrogate a former judge.

At a House Oversight subcommittee hearing on "The Consequences of Catch and Release at the Border," Goldman challenged Matt O'Brien, a former immigration judge in Virginia, on his assertion that President Joe Biden has the authority to shut down the border. Democrats, in an effort to protect Biden, have said this is not true.

"Under what authority do you refer to?" Goldman challenged.

"As I said, Section 1182(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which was the statutory provision that was at issue in Trump v. Hawaii," O'Brien answered. "It's a provision that allows the president by proclamation to temporarily suspend the admission of certain classes of aliens into the United States."

Indeed, Section 1182(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act is clear:

Whenever the President finds that the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, he may by proclamation, and for such period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants, or impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate.

Not addressing the substance of O'Brien's response, Goldman then targeted Donald Trump.

"So why didn't Donald Trump use that?" Goldman asked.

"He did — that's why the Trump v. Hawaii case went all the way to the Supreme Court," O'Brien explained.

The Supreme Court, in fact, ruled in Trump's favor in 2018. The court agreed that Section 1182(f) "grants the president broad discretion to suspend the entry of aliens into the United States."

In a follow-up question, Goldman asked why Trump relied on Title 42 for mass deportations. O'Brien explained that happened during the COVID-19 pandemic because Title 42 is designed for a "public health crisis," whereas 1182(f) is "a general power to manage the border in confrontation of a crisis."

Not surprisingly, Goldman chose to ask O'Brien no further questions.

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