Opening Arguments

OA1265 - THIS IS SUCH A GOOD NEWS SHOW.
Seriously. It was so good that Matt invented a new form of entertainment that you need to hear about. We've got Markwayne saying possibly THE dumbest thing a cabinet member has ever said. We've got a judge absolutely schooling Trump's corrupt DOJ and dismissing the bogus Kilmar Abrego Garcia indictment, AND we've got some interesting emolument talk. Can Florida just give Trump land?

VR33 - Did Trump’s DHS really just “end greencards” for people living in the US? Is everyone here on a visa going to have to return to their home countries--potentially with legal bars to returning of ten years or more--to process their cases? Who is the USCIS policy memo on “adjustment of status” to permanent residency which has caused massive amounts of fear and uncertainty in immigrant communities around the country this past weekend actually targeting, and who might still be able to get through? As always, the answers to these questions are much more nuanced than a 30-second viral video could ever convey and there is real reason to hope beyond the headlines.  Matt has written some of the most thorough analysis yet published since the memo’s release and he is here to tell us that it is many ways both much better and in others much worse than reported. We take a closer look at what the media coverage of this story has gotten wrong (and what it has missed) while going deep on the alleged legal justifications for this new interpretation of the law to see how it all holds up.
“Adjustment of Status is a Matter of Discretion and Administrative Grace, and an Extraordinary Relief that Permits Applicants to Dispense with the Ordinary Consular Visa Process,” USCIS Policy Memorandum dated 5/21/26

“Did DHS Really Just Stop Processing Greencards? A Closer Look,” Matt Cameron, DEPORTNATION (5/23/26)

“Adjusting Expectations,” Matt Cameron, DEPORTNATION (May 27, 2026)

Matter of Blas, Int. Dec. #2485, BIA (1974)(adopted by AG 1976) 

Matter of Arai, Int. Dec. #2027, BIA (1970)

OA1264 - Sherise Doyley was in the early stages of labor, in a hospital bed, preparing to deliver her baby, when nurses wheeled in a computer. On the screen was a judge, notifying her of an emergency order by the State of Florida to attempt to force her to undergo a C-section, instead of first attempting vaginal delivery. For 3 hours she advocated for herself, without an attorney, barely covered in a hospital gown.
How was any of this legal? What is happening? Jenessa breaks down the history of our rights to make our own medical decisions and how that is legally modified in pregnancy, Lydia shares her own birth experience and how these situations could be handled with actual compassion, and Thomas holds very still in hopes our eyes are based on movement (just kidding, Thomas is very supportive and also outraged). Come rage against the machine with us and hopefully breathe life into a revived pro-choice movement, before it’s too late.
Amy Yurkanin (Mar. 14, 2026), They Didn’t Want to Have C-Sections. A Judge Would Decide How They Gave Birth, ProPublica.
Video clips of Doyley hearing, provided by ProPublica’s Facebook page


Anuli Njoku, Marian Evans, Lillian Nimo-Sefah, & Jonell Bailey (2023). Listen to the Whispers before They Become Screams: Addressing Black Maternal Morbidity and Mortality in the United States, 11 Healthcare 438.

Brad N. Greenwood, Rachel R. Hardeman, Laura Huang, & Aaron Sojourner (2020), Physician–patient racial concordance and disparities in birthing mortality for newborns, 117 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 21194.

Maternal Mortality Prevention (Dec. 18, 2025). Data from the Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System, CDC.

Bracey Harris & Elizabeth Chuck (Jan. 9, 2026), 'Her worst fear has come to pass': Midwife who advocated for Black women dies after giving birth, NBC News.

Camila Domonoske (Apr. 17, 2018), 'Father Of Gynecology,' Who Experimented On Slaves, No Longer On Pedestal In NYC, NPR.

Megan L. Swanson, Sara Whetstone, Tushani Illangasekare, & Amy (Meg) Autry (2021), Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reparations: The Debt We Owe (and Continue to Accumulate), 5 Health Equity 353.

Nicole Loy (May 16, 2025), Pain and Gynecology: Raising Standards of Care, The Healthcare Review at Cornell University.

Jess Mador (July 29, 2025), A Brain-Dead Pregnant Woman Was Kept Alive in Georgia. It’s Unclear if State Law Required It, KFF Health News.

(June 2025), Pregnancy Exceptionalism: A Review of Restrictions on Advance Directives, Pregnancy Justice.

U.S. Const. amend. IX

Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 (1905)

Rochin v. California, 342 U.S. 165 (1952)

Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Dep't of Health, 497 U.S. 261 (1990)

Washington v. Harper, 494 U.S. 210 (1990)

Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973)

Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992)

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, 597 U.S. 215 (2022)

Heller v. Doe, 509 U.S. 312 (1993)

State Dept. of Human Services v. Northern, 563 S.W.2d 197 (1978)

Lane v. Candura, 6 Mass. App. Ct. 377 (1978)

Koskenoja v. Whitmer, Mich. Ct. Cl. (2026)

(Apr. 20, 2026), Michigan Pregnancy Exclusion Law is Unconstitutional, Compassion & Choices.

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OA1263 - Two of the most egregiously impeachable things ever to happen in the United States have just occurred on the same day this week: 
The so-called “settlement” between Donald Trump and his own IRS which guarantees his immunity from consequences for any financial  a slush fund for his friends and family and 

A Texas federal judge forcing a Rhode Island hospital to turn over records for trans kids while also attempting to specifically limit where this order can be challenged--and making absurd threats to anyone who even thinks about talking about challenging it

We take a closer look at the alleged legal basis for both actions and how the Trump “settlement” compares to the previous record-holder for Presidential financial corruption set 123 years ago before getting on to much better news in today’s footnote: an underdog Boston lawyer who has taken to the mic to call out some much bigger law dogs.
“Settlement” Agreement, President Donald Trump et al. v. Internal Revenue Service et al. (5/18/2026)

Untitled document, Office of the Attorney General (5/19/2026)

Order Closing Case, President Donald Trump et al. v. Internal Revenue Service et al., Southern District of Florida (5/18/2026)

Complaint, Harry Dunn and Daniel Hodges v. Donald J. Trump, D.C. District Court (5/20/2026)

Order of Court, In RE: Motion to Quash Administrative Subpoena to Rhode Island Hospital, First Cir. (5/19/2026)

Emergency Motion to Quash Subpoena In Duces Tecum, In Re: Administrative Subpoena 25-1431-032 to Rhode Island Hospital, Rhode Island District Court (5/4/2026)

@joerezlaw on Instagram

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VR32 - As the economic effects of Trump’s war of choice in the Middle East begin to hit home, his party is playing the one card it has going into the midterms: the promise of fully restoring open white supremacy to the US immigration system. We begin with a sampler platter of amuse douche from a recent episode of Tim Pool’s podcast–mercifully free of Tim Pool–to get a sense of how the MAGA right is talking about immigration reform these days. Matt then gives a brief history lesson about the openly racist origins of the Immigration Act of 1924 and the Cold War origins of the 1965 Hart-Celler bill which Republicans are now trying to repeal before we dive into the main course: a recent piece in The Federalist written in support of Rep. Andy Ogle’s Assimilation Act. Why do these people hate families so much? Can Congress really end birthright citizenship? And can you really build an entire thinkpiece entirely out of red flags? Join us this week on Vapid Response Wednesday to find out.
The National Visa Bulletin’s website

Whom We Shall Welcome (1952)

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965

It’s Long Past Time To Scrap Hart-Celler And Insist That Immigrants Assimilate (John Daniel Davidson, The Federalist; 5/15/2026)

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