Supreme Court maintains block on some Trump deportations of migrants
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In its order Friday, the justices said they were not addressing the broader legal question about whether Trump officials can legally invoke the wartime statute to target alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang.
By Ann E. Marimow A divided Supreme Court on Friday continued to block the Trump administration’s use of a rarely invoked wartime power to deport migrants in Northern Texas and said administration officials had not given those targeted for removal last month sufficient time to challenge their deportations. The majority called the detainees’ interests “particularly weighty” because of the risk of removal to a megaprison in El Salvador where detainees could face indefinite detention. President Donald Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to target a Venezuelan gang is one of the most controversial parts of his mass deportation efforts, which are at the center of increasingly tense standoffs between his administration and the courts. The justices had told the administration in early April that it must give targeted detainees sufficient notice “within a reasonable time and in such a manner” that they can challenge their removal in the jurisdictions where they are being held. The high court intervened again a week later, issuing an extraordinary middle-of-the-night order to temporarily halt deportations of a group of migrants in Texas. Lawyers for those migrants said they had been loaded onto buses and were at risk of imminent removal to El Salvador. In its order Friday, the justices said they were not addressing the broader legal question about whether Trump officials can legally invoke the wartime statute to target alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang. Instead, they sent the case back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit for further proceedings. “We recognize the significance of the Government’s national security interests as well as the necessity that such interests be pursued in a manner consistent with the Constitution,” according to the unsigned order from the majority. In a concurring statement, Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh said the Supreme Court’s injunction “simply ensures that the Judiciary can decide whether these Venezuelan detainees may be lawfully removed under the Alien Enemies Act before they are in fact removed.” Conservative Justices Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Clarence Thomas dissented.
In its order Friday, the justices said they were not addressing the broader legal question about whether Trump officials can legally invoke the wartime statute to target alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang.
By Ann E. Marimow A divided Supreme Court on Friday continued to block the Trump administration’s use of a rarely invoked wartime power to deport migrants in Northern Texas and said administration officials had not given those targeted for removal last month sufficient time to challenge their deportations. The majority called the detainees’ interests “particularly weighty” because of the risk of removal to a megaprison in El Salvador where detainees could face indefinite detention. President Donald Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to target a Venezuelan gang is one of the most controversial parts of his mass deportation efforts, which are at the center of increasingly tense standoffs between his administration and the courts. The justices had told the administration in early April that it must give targeted detainees sufficient notice “within a reasonable time and in such a manner” that they can challenge their removal in the jurisdictions where they are being held. The high court intervened again a week later, issuing an extraordinary middle-of-the-night order to temporarily halt deportations of a group of migrants in Texas. Lawyers for those migrants said they had been loaded onto buses and were at risk of imminent removal to El Salvador. In its order Friday, the justices said they were not addressing the broader legal question about whether Trump officials can legally invoke the wartime statute to target alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang. Instead, they sent the case back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit for further proceedings. “We recognize the significance of the Government’s national security interests as well as the necessity that such interests be pursued in a manner consistent with the Constitution,” according to the unsigned order from the majority. In a concurring statement, Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh said the Supreme Court’s injunction “simply ensures that the Judiciary can decide whether these Venezuelan detainees may be lawfully removed under the Alien Enemies Act before they are in fact removed.” Conservative Justices Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Clarence Thomas dissented.
