The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently ruled that Trump can ban immigrants from US entry if they don’t have approved health insurance. Judge Daniel Collins, appointed by the outgoing US President, ruled that Trump had the authority to block immigrants from entering the US without health insurance under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
Judge Jay Bybee, appointed under the George W. Bush administration, sided with Judge Collins’ ruling, while Judge A. Wallace Tashima, a Bill Clinton appointee, dissented.
Amid President-elect Joe Biden’s first days in the White House, this Trump victory raises the stakes for the former Vice President of the Obama administration, who has vowed to scrap many of Trump’s controversial US immigration policies.
Panel: Judges Tashima, Wardlaw, and Pratt (S.D. Iowa), with Judge Tashima writing the opinion.
Key highlight: “We agree with McGee that these injuries, e.g., damage to one’s vital organs and permanent degradation of one’s cognitive abilities, would be sufficient to satisfy Article III standing for her non-UCL claims. We are not persuaded, however, that McGee has plausibly alleged that she suffered these injuries.”
Background: The plaintiff, Jacquelyn McGee, had bought and eaten Pop Secret brand popcorn. She then advanced a number of state-law claims against Pop Secret’s manufacturer, Diamond Foods, alleging that Pop Secret contained partially hydrogenated oil, or trans fat. The district court dismissed her complaint for failure allege Article III injury in fact.