The Supreme Court is handing down major opinions at a rapid clip, but even with some of the biggest decisions yet to come, there are signs of tension as the justices near the end of the term. A misunderstanding led to a highly unusual exchange for the restrained and traditional atmosphere after the nation’s highest court took the bench Thursday to hand down their decisions.

Immigration Rulings

Those rulings included two major immigration wins for President Donald Trump. After conservative Justice Samuel Alito finished his reading of the majority’s ruling limiting how people can seek asylum at the southern border, liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor spoke up to read from her biting dissent. She traced the difficult journey many asylum seekers face and outlined a painful chapter in the country’s history: When the U.S. and other countries turned back a ship full of Jewish refugees attempting to flee persecution in Nazi Germany in 1939.

Sotomayor, the first Latina justice, said the majority’s opinion would allow the Trump administration to block people from applying for asylum at the border, which would result in more deaths. The decision ‘regrettably and tragically extinguishes the light of the torch of the Statue of Liberty.’ Justice Brett Kavanaugh watched her intently as she spoke, while Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson looked straight ahead.

Tension Among Justices

The exchange comes during the court’s busiest time of the year, as the justices prepare to release opinions next week on some of the biggest issues of the term, and Trump’s presidency so far. Those include his push to restrict birthright citizenship and expand the president’s power to fire board members at independent agencies. Supreme Court justices have spoken publicly about their cordial working relationships and regular lunches as a group where they set aside cases to talk and share each other’s company.

Original reporting: Texarkana Gazette — read the source article.