Trump asks Supreme Court for permission to resume deporting Venezuelan
migrants under wartime law
[March 29, 2025]
By MARK SHERMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Friday asked the Supreme
Court for permission to resume deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El
Salvador under an 18th century wartime law, while a court fight
continues.
The emergency appeal to the high court follows a rejection of the
Republican administration’s plea to the federal appeals court in
Washington. By a 2-1 vote, a panel of appellate judges left in place an
order temporarily prohibiting deportations of the migrants under the
rarely used Alien Enemies Act
The Justice Department argued in court papers that federal courts
shouldn’t interfere with sensitive diplomatic negotiations. It also
claimed that migrants should make their case in a federal court in
Texas, where they are being detained.
The order temporarily blocking the deportations was issued by U.S.
District Judge James E. Boasberg, the chief judge at the federal
courthouse in Washington.
President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act for the first time
since World War II to justify the deportation of hundreds of people
under a presidential proclamation calling the Tren de Aragua gang an
invading force.
“Here, the district court’s orders have rebuffed the President’s
judgments as to how to protect the Nation against foreign terrorist
organizations and risk debilitating effects for delicate foreign
negotiations,” acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris wrote in the court
filing.
Attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on
behalf of five Venezuelan noncitizens who were being held in Texas,
hours after the proclamation was made public.
The court set a Tuesday deadline for a response from the ACLU.
Lee Gelernt, the lead lawyer representing the migrants, said, "We will
urge the Supreme Court to preserve the status quo to give the courts
time to hear this case, so that more individuals are not sent off to a
notorious foreign prison without any process, based on an unprecedented
and unlawful use of a wartime authority.”
[to top of second column]
|
Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States arrive at Simon
Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia, Venezuela, Monday, March
24, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
The case has become a flashpoint amid escalating tension between the
White House and the federal courts.
Boasberg imposed a temporary halt on deportations and ordered
planeloads of Venezuelan immigrants to return to the U.S. That did
not happen. The judge has since vowed to determine whether the
government defied his order to turn the planes around. The
administration has invoked a “state secrets privilege” and refused
to give Boasberg any additional information about the deportations.
Trump and his allies have called for impeaching Boasberg. In a rare
statement, Chief Justice John Roberts said “impeachment is not an
appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial
decision.”
The Alien Enemies Act allows noncitizens to be deported without the
opportunity for a hearing before an immigration or federal court
judge.
Boasberg ruled that immigrants facing deportation must get an
opportunity to challenge their designations as alleged gang members.
His ruling said there is “a strong public interest in preventing the
mistaken deportation of people based on categories they have no
right to challenge.”
The temporary halt on deportations that Boasberg imposed is set to
expire on Saturday, but the ACLU has asked for an extension until
April 12 and plans to seek a more lasting pause on deportations
under the Alien Enemies Act, known as a preliminary injunction,
while the lawsuit continues.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
