An SIU Law School expert on immigration and refugee cases says President Donald Trump's executive order banning immigration and travel from certain countries may violate international treaties.
Professor Cindy Buys says barring entire nations or religious groups runs contrary to the Refugee Convention of 1951.
"And that convention very clearly says that, in doing refugee admissions, states get to choose who they admit - but they are not supposed to discriminate on the grounds of nationality or religion. And, if states claim that they can't take a refugee because of national security grounds, that's also their prerogative, but the convention requires an individualized determination, not a group-wide determination."
She says the U.S. could be sued in the International Court of Justice for violating portions of that convention that bar discrimination based on nationality or religion.
Buys, whose work also focuses on U.S. constitutional law, also says president have been increasingly using the power of the executive order to get things done.
"I, for one, would really like to see Congress step up. And Congress certainly can rewrite the immigration statute or any other statute to provide more direction to the President as to what the Congress would like to - what discretion the President should have, and where the President's power should be more constrained."
She blames this partly on increased partisanship and gridlock in Washington, and says it leaves the judicial branch to be the deciding factor between opposing sides of the political spectrum.
