The US Supreme Court has ordered the Trump administration to halt deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members who are being detained in North Texas under an 18th-century wartime statute.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit against the government, arguing that the detainees haven’t been given opportunities to challenge their cases in court.
President Trump has deported accused Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador’s notorious mega-jail by invoking the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. This law grants the president authority to detain and deport citizens of “enemy” nations without typical legal processes. Historically, the act had only been utilized three times during wartime periods, with its last application during World War II when Japanese descendants were imprisoned without trial, and many sent to internment camps.
Trump’s aggressive immigration policies have faced several legal challenges since he took office in January. The president accused the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua of “perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion” on American territory.
According to a senior administration official who spoke to CBS News, of the 261 Venezuelans deported to El Salvador by April 8, 137 were removed under the Alien Enemies Act. A lower court temporarily blocked these deportations on March 15.
The Supreme Court initially ruled on April 8 that Trump could use the Alien Enemies Act for deporting alleged gang members. Still, it specified that deportees must have opportunities to contest their removal. The ACLU lawsuit that prompted Saturday’s order claimed the detained Venezuelans received deportation notices in English, despite at least one detainee speaking only Spanish. The legal challenge also stated the men weren’t informed of their right to contest the decision in court.
“Without this Court’s intervention, dozens or hundreds of proposed class members may be removed to a possible life sentence in El Salvador with no real opportunity to contest their designation or removal,” the lawsuit stated.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented from Saturday’s order.
In his January inaugural address, Trump vowed to “eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks bringing devastating crime to US soil.”
In one high-profile case, the government admitted mistakenly deporting El Salvadoran national Kilmar รbrego Garcรญa, though it maintains he belongs to the MS-13 gangโa claim his lawyer and family deny. รbrego Garcรญa has no criminal convictions. While the Supreme Court unanimously ruled the government should facilitate his return, the Trump administration has insisted he will “never” live in the US again.
Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen from Maryland visited รbrego Garcรญa in El Salvador and reported he had been transferred from the Terrorism Confinement Centre (Cecot) to a different prison.
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