The country has become so divided, some scholars say, that leaders of the three branches are often more loyal to their parties than to their institutions.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a scathing dissent of the court's ruling allowing for people to be deported to "potentially dangerous countries without notice."

The conservative-leaning Supreme Court has allowed the United States to deport eight migrants being held at a military base in Djibouti to war-torn South Sudan.