The Supreme Court on Monday handed the Trump administration a legal victory, allowing President Donald Trump to resume deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members under the Alien Enemies Act, with some limitations that will likely lead to another lawsuit in a different federal court.
In a 5-4 decision, the justices lifted a lower court’s temporary restraining order that had blocked Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 statute historically reserved for wartime threats. Trump used the law in March to authorize the rapid deportation of members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang designated a terrorist organization by the State Department.
“AEA detainees must receive notice after the date of this order that they are subject to removal under the Act” and the “notice must be afforded within a reasonable time and in some manner as will allow them to actually seek habeas relief,” the majority held.
However, the majority also found that because the detainees “are confined in Texas,” the Washington D.C. federal court where the lawsuit was filed was “improper.”
“As a result, the government is likely to succeed on the merits of this action,” the majority added.
Although the narrow decision sided with the Trump administration, it still left room for the losing parties to challenge the controversial deportation powers in a different venue.
The ruling means immigration officials can move forward with removals so long as detainees are given “reasonable” notice and a chance to challenge their deportation through habeas petitions — just not under the Administrative Procedures Act, or APA, which allows plaintiffs to bring suits if they believe an agency’s decision is unlawful or arbitrary.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, in a concurring opinion, emphasized that habeas corpus has long been the proper legal avenue for detainees facing transfer or removal, citing precedent from wartime and Guantánamo cases.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who was joined in a dissent by two other Democratic justices and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a Trump appointee, argued that APA should remain a viable challenge for noncitizens to bring.
“Indeed, in the mid-20th century, this Court repeatedly said that habeas and APA actions were both available to noncitizens challenging their deportation orders,” Sotomayor wrote.
Trump administration officials praised the high court’s decision, with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claiming that “Trump was proven RIGHT once again!” in a statement. Attorney General Pam Bondi called the decision a “landmark victory for the rule of law.”
The legal challenge was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of a handful of Venezuelan men who argued the president overstepped his powers when he designated them as members of a Venezuelan gang and used the Alien Enemies Act to deport them. They noted that the Alien Enemies Act has previously been used only during declared wars, including World War II, to justify the internment of Japanese, German, and Italian nationals.
Judge James Boasberg had blocked the deportations last month, but the Trump administration allowed two planes to proceed to El Salvador, where 238 Venezuelans were handed over to be held in the country’s “Terrorism Confinement Center.”
Meanwhile, the ACLU called the details of the ruling that specified migrants are entitled to challenge the government’s claim that they are gang members “a huge victory.”
“We are disappointed that we will need to start the court process over again in a different venue but the critical point is that the Supreme Court said individuals must be given due process to challenge their removal under the Alien Enemies Act,” lead ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt said in a statement.
The Trump administration had already acknowledged in lower court filings that individuals targeted for removal under the AEA, including those alleged to be members of the Venezuelan gang, are entitled to judicial review before deportation.
The government “expressly agrees that ‘TdA members subject to removal under the Alien Enemies Act get judicial review,’” the high court noted in its decision.
As of Monday evening, Boasberg still listed a hearing planned for Tuesday afternoon on whether to impose a longer-term preliminary injunction. It is not immediately clear whether the Supreme Court’s decision will call off that hearing.
Boasberg is also still weighing whether to hold the Trump administration in contempt for violating his first restraining order, which he issued on the day of the initial Venezuelan gang flights to El Salvador. Attorney Phil Holloway posted to X Monday evening that it is likely the judge could still issue a decision on that matter
DOJ ASKS SUPREME COURT TO OVERTURN HOLD ON ALIEN ENEMIES ACT DEPORTATIONS
Trump has railed against Boasberg, calling for his impeachment and labeling him a “Radical Left Lunatic.” The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld Boasberg’s order last week after hearing sharp exchanges between the court and DOJ attorneys.
The ruling came shortly after Chief Justice John Roberts on Monday afternoon temporarily stayed a lower court’s order for the Trump administration to return a man from El Salvador to Maryland after he was deported last month, a move that marked another brief victory for Trump.
