US Supreme Court Halts, For Now, Deportations Under 1798 Wartime Law

The United States Supreme Court on Saturday temporarily blocked the deportation of Venezuelan nationals detained in northern Texas under the centuries-old Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The brief order, which halts the removals until further notice, came in response to an emergency appeal filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented from the decision, as the court directed federal authorities not to proceed with the deportation of individuals held at the Bluebonnet Detention Centre pending further orders, news agency AP reported.

The ACLU had approached the apex court after immigration authorities appeared to be attempting to restart removals under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. Earlier in April, the Supreme Court ruled that such deportations could proceed only if detainees were given the opportunity to present their case in court and allowed “a reasonable time” to challenge their removal.

“We are deeply relieved that the Court has temporarily blocked the removals. These individuals were in imminent danger of spending the rest of their lives in a brutal prison without ever having had any due process,” ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt said in an email, as reported by AP.

2 Federal Judges Refused To Intervene Amid Lawyers' Legal Campaign To Stop Deportations

Despite this, on Friday, two federal judges refused to intervene as lawyers launched a last-minute legal campaign to stop the deportations. Although one judge acknowledged legitimate concerns in the case, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also declined to grant protection to the detainees early Saturday, AP's report stated.

The ACLU had already filed a suit to block the deportation of two Venezuelans held at Bluebonnet and requested a broader order to prevent the removal of any migrants from the region under the Alien Enemies Act. The organisation raised alarms in an emergency filing, warning that authorities were accusing several detainees of being part of the Tren de Aragua gang—claims that, under the former Trump administration’s interpretation of the Act, justified immediate removal irrespective of immigration status.

The Act has historically been invoked only three times, most recently during World War II to detain Japanese-American civilians. The former Trump administration has argued that it grants them the authority to swiftly deport individuals suspected of gang affiliation.

Federal judges in Colorado, New York, and southern Texas had issued orders prohibiting deportations under the Act unless a legal process was made available. However, no such order existed in the jurisdiction covering the Bluebonnet facility, located 24 miles north of Abilene in northern Texas.

U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix, a Trump appointee, declined to stop the deportation of the two individuals named in the ACLU’s petition, citing sworn statements from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) asserting they would not be deported immediately. Hendrix also refrained from issuing a blanket order, stating that no deportations had yet occurred, as per the report.

However, the ACLU’s Friday filing included declarations from three immigration lawyers who claimed their clients had been issued documents in English, despite only speaking Spanish, and were informed of impending deportation by Saturday. Attorney Karene Brown alleged that one client, identified as F.G.M., was told the papers were ‘coming from the President’ and that he would be deported even without signing them, according to the report.

In a Friday hearing before District Judge James E. Boasberg in Washington DC, Gelernt contended that Venezuelan detainees were being transferred from south Texas—where a deportation ban is in place—to Bluebonnet to circumvent the order. Witnesses reportedly saw detainees being loaded onto buses for transport to the airport.

Although Boasberg had earlier halted deportations in March, he noted on Friday that the Supreme Court had ruled that such orders must come from judges in the jurisdictions where migrants are held, rendering him powerless. “I’m sympathetic to everything you’re saying,” Boasberg told Gelernt, “I just don’t think I have the power to do anything about it.”

Boasberg also found probable cause to believe that the Trump administration had ignored his previous deportation ban. He expressed concern that ICE documents failed to inform detainees of their right to challenge deportation—rights he believed were mandated by the Supreme Court.

Justice Department attorney Drew Ensign countered that those facing removal would have at least 24 hours to contest the action in court. He also said no deportation flights were scheduled for Friday night and was unaware of any on Saturday, although the Department of Homeland Security retained the right to proceed.

ICE declined to comment on the ongoing litigation.

Separately, a Massachusetts judge on Friday made permanent an earlier ban preventing the administration from deporting immigrants to countries other than their own without informing them of the destination and allowing them to object if they feared torture or death.

Some Venezuelans targeted under the Alien Enemies Act have reportedly already been deported to El Salvador and placed in the country’s notorious central prison, according to AP.

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