Harvard Law Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz says President Donald Trump is on solid constitutional ground in his mission to deport thousands of illegal immigrants—so long as proper due process is followed.

In an appearance Monday on Just the News, Dershowitz said the recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, which temporarily halted Trump’s enforcement of the Alien Enemies Act, is not a rejection of the policy’s legality—but a procedural pause to ensure constitutional safeguards are observed.

“I think the Supreme Court is sending a clear message: you can do it,” Dershowitz said. “Just do it right, and understand that due process doesn’t have a singular meaning.”

The ruling sent the case back to a lower appeals court to clarify factual issues, such as the notice requirements for deportees and the scope of the president’s authority to use an 18th-century law—first enacted in 1798 and strengthened during World War I and II—to remove non-citizens affiliated with designated foreign threats.

Last month, a federal judge sided with the Trump administration, allowing the removal of suspected members of transnational gangs and terror-linked groups such as MS-13 and Tren de Aragua under the Alien Enemies Act. But liberal judges have continued to obstruct removals by claiming deportees are not receiving “adequate” due process.

The administration maintains that most of those being deported have already been ordered removed after full immigration hearings.

Dershowitz explained that due process is not a one-size-fits-all concept and depends on the individual's legal status in the United States.

“It [due process] means the process that is due to you,” Dershowitz said. “Depending on your status, if you’re a citizen and they’re trying to put you in jail, due process means you know every conceivable right that human beings know.”

“But,” he added, “if you’re a student on a visa, and you’re here at the deference of the government, due process only means they have to give you an opportunity to disprove the allegations against you. So it’s minimal.”

The Supreme Court also ruled Monday that President Trump has the legal authority to rescind Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for over 300,000 Venezuelans—a major reversal of the Biden administration’s move to extend the Obama-era designation.

The Court granted an emergency request from Trump’s legal team to overturn Biden’s unilateral action. The underlying legal question will now return to the District Courts.

“The Supreme Court is going to recognize that the executive, the president, has the power to decide who stays in the country and who goes,” Dershowitz said. “But they have to do it in the right way. They have to do it consistent with due process.”

“You gotta make sure you have the right people,” he added. “You have to make sure they’re afforded their basic rights, but don’t try to constrain the president and the executive from substantively determining who stays in the country and who doesn’t.”

SCOTUS Also Sides with Trump-Era Watchdog Agency

In a separate move, the Supreme Court last week shielded the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—an agency created by Executive Order 14158 on January 20—from a flood of transparency demands tied to an ongoing lawsuit.

The DOGE, part of President Trump’s aggressive effort to root out bureaucratic waste, had faced court-ordered deadlines to comply with Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Those orders are now frozen, pending further review.

“The orders issued by the federal district court in Washington are hereby stayed pending further order of the undersigned or of the Court,” wrote Chief Justice John Roberts in the brief administrative stay.

The DOGE is tasked with implementing what the order calls “the President’s DOGE Agenda,” focusing on streamlining federal spending, modernizing software and tech, and holding unelected bureaucrats accountable.

Though the pause drew criticism from transparency advocates, constitutional conservatives argue that administrative independence and executive privilege must be protected against politicized fishing expeditions.