On Saturday, the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deporting Venezuelan migrants accused of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang, citing an appeal challenging the legality of the move.
Last month, former President Donald Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA) a rarely used law from the 18th century to justify the arrest and removal of Venezuelan migrants allegedly tied to gang activity. Those detained were reportedly being sent to a high-security prison in El Salvador.
The law has historically only been enforced during major conflicts, including the War of 1812, World War I, and World War II.
In a brief ruling issued early Saturday, the Supreme Court ordered that no detainee in the group targeted for deportation should be removed from the U.S. until further notice. This came in response to an urgent appeal by civil rights lawyers who sought to stop the deportations of individuals currently held in a Texas detention center.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which filed the emergency appeal on Friday night, warned that the detainees had been told they could be deported under the AEA “as soon as tonight.”
Attorneys representing some of those already deported argue that their clients have no ties to the gang, have committed no crimes, and were likely profiled based on their tattoos. Trump, who has pledged to deport large numbers of undocumented migrants, claims that Venezuela is “sending an invasion force” via suspected gang members entering the U.S.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court ruled that individuals subject to removal under the AEA must be given the chance to challenge their deportation in court.
In its filing, the ACLU argued that the migrants faced immediate expulsion “without proper notice or a chance to defend themselves.” Some detainees had reportedly already been put on buses heading toward the airport.
Despite a March order from federal Judge James Boasberg temporarily blocking the deportations, the Trump administration proceeded with removing alleged gang members under the AEA.
Currently, deported individuals are being held in El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, a sprawling maximum-security prison designed for 40,000 inmates. Conditions in the facility are harsh, with prisoners confined to windowless cells, denied mattresses, and prohibited from receiving visitors.
One deportee, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident, was reportedly removed in error, prompting ongoing discussions between U.S. and Salvadoran officials about his fate. The Supreme Court lifted the original block on April 7 but reaffirmed the right of those facing deportation to due process.
(Punch)
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