With all of the coverage yesterday of the heated arguments in Mahmoud v. Taylor, one order of the Court was likely overlooked. It appears that elderly Americans will not be deported as Alien Elderly Americans. At the request of the A.A.R.P., the Court agreed to change the name of A.A.R.P. v. Trump to W.M.M. v. Trump.
The case is a pending class action lawsuit seeking the protection of alleged Venezuelan gang members facing deportation under the Alien Enemies Act.
The original captioning was a pseudonym used by one of the parties. That did not go over well with the organization.
“Unsurprisingly, this litigation has already received attention from the press and social media. It will surely continue to do so. AARP is concerned that the nomenclature adopted by the caption of this case will create substantial confusion among journalists and the public. Indeed, in the 72 hours since the litigation was filed, it has already resulted in numerous misplaced inquiries to AARP. Both the ACLU and AARP are prominent advocacy organizations on federal policies, albeit in very different domains.”
While many retirees are moving to El Salvador and other countries in the area, the original captioning suggested a more involuntary relocation. With a court composed of AARP-qualified members (Barrett and Jackson are in their 50s but still can join), the Supreme Court decided to remove any question that this was a case about deportations under some mysterious Alien Elderly Act (AEA):
The AARP, a nonprofit entirely unrelated to this case, seek leave to intervene to request that the petitioner A.A.R.P.’s pseudonym be changed to A.R.P. and that the case caption be styled as W.M.M., et al. v. Donald J. Trump, et. al. The petitioners and the respondents do not oppose the AARP’s motion….
The Court construes the motion to intervene as an agreement by the existing parties to amend the styling of the case caption. Accordingly, the Court amends its prior order granting the motion to proceed under pseudonyms and orders that the petitioners are permitted to proceed under the pseudonyms A.R.P., W.M.M., and F.G.M. [not to be confused with FGM -EV]. In addition, the Court orders that this case will hereafter proceed under the case caption W.M.M., et al. v. Donald J. Trump, et. al.
The change should come as a relief given the claims on the left that Trump is planning to “disappear” journalists, homosexuals, and members of Congress. Just last week, MSNBC host Symone Sanders-Townsend declared, “To be very clear, it’s going to be the people of color, and vulnerable communities that are next in line.”
That apparently will not include the elderly, including the justices themselves who will be allowed to remain to rule in what is now W.M.M. v. Trump. However, Women Moving Millions (WMM) may not want to make any long-term plans.