The US Supreme Court on Monday lifted a lower court order barring the deportation of undocumented migrants using an obscure wartime law, in a victory for the Trump administration.
But the nation’s top court also said that migrants subject to deportation under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act must be given an opportunity to legally challenge their removal.
The 5-4 Supreme Court decision will allow the Trump administration to resume deportations for now that had been blocked by a district court judge.
Trump invoked the AEA, which has only previously been used during wartime, to justify rounding up alleged Venezuelan gang members and summarily deporting them to a notorious maximum security prison in El Salvador.
The Republican president, who campaigned on a pledge to deport millions of undocumented migrants, welcomed the top court’s ruling in a post on Truth Social.
“The Supreme Court has upheld the Rule of Law in our Nation by allowing a President, whoever that may be, to be able to secure our Borders, and protect our families and our Country, itself,” Trump said. “A GREAT DAY FOR JUSTICE IN AMERICA!”
District Judge James Boasberg issued an injunction barring further flights of deportees under the AEA after planeloads of Venezuelan migrants were sent to El Salvador on March 15.
The Supreme Court lifted Boasberg’s temporary restraining orders but mostly on technical grounds related to venue — the migrants who sued to prevent their removal are in Texas while the case before Boasberg was heard in Washington.
At the same time, the Supreme Court made it clear that migrants subject to deportation under the AEA, which has only been used during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II, are entitled to some form of due process.
“AEA detainees must receive notice after the date of this order that they are subject to removal under the Act,” the court said.
“Detainees subject to removal orders under the AEA are entitled to notice and an opportunity to challenge their removal,” it said. “The only question is which court will resolve that challenge.”
The Trump administration has used images of the alleged Tren de Aragua gang members being shackled and having their heads shaved in the Central American prison as proof that it is serious about cracking down on illegal immigration.
Attorneys for several of the deported Venezuelans have said that their clients were not members of Tren de Aragua, had committed no crimes and were targeted largely on the basis of their tattoos.
