The Supreme Court on Friday paused the deportation of a group of Venezuelan nationals under the Alien Enemies Act in Texas and instructed a federal appeals court to review the case.
The U.S. Appeals Court for the 5th Circuit had dismissed a challenge to looming deportations under the Alien Enemies Act from a group of suspected members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. It claimed the detained Venezuelan nationals lacked jurisdiction and subsequently denied their motion for an injunction pending appeal.
In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court vacated the appellate court’s decision to dismiss the case and remanded it to the 5th Circuit for further proceedings on the merits of the case.
The unsigned majority decision from the Supreme Court called on the lower appeals court to address the “normal preliminary injunction factors” for the plaintiffs’ claims that the Alien Enemies Act does not allow their removal and the “issue of what notice is due, as to the putative class’s due process claims against summary removal.”
The majority opinion noted the importance of courts working through claims quickly, stating that the government “has represented elsewhere that it is unable to provide for the return of an individual deported in error to a prison in El Salvador,” referring to the case of deported Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
The high court also said the Trump administration’s notice “roughly 24 hours before removal, devoid of information about how to exercise due process rights to contest that removal” for Alien Enemies Act removals “surely does not pass muster.”
“The Government is enjoined from removing the named plaintiffs or putative class members in this action under the AEA pending order by the Fifth Circuit and disposition of the petition for a writ of certiorari, if such writ is timely sought,” the high court wrote in its decision.
The opinion still allows the Trump administration to “remove the named plaintiffs or putative class members under other lawful authorities.”
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, in a concurring opinion, said while he agreed with the court’s decision, he would rather not delay “this Court’s final resolution of the critical legal issues” — instead of remanding it to the lower appellate court.
“The circumstances call for a prompt and final resolution, which likely can be provided only by this Court,” Kavanaugh said.
Justice Samuel Alito slammed the decision in a dissent joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, claiming the justices lack jurisdiction and “therefore have no authority to issue any relief.”
“It has plucked a case from a district court and decided important issues in the first instance. To my eyes, that looks far too much like an expansion of our original jurisdiction,” the dissent said.
SUPREME COURT EXPANDS REVIEW STANDARD FOR POLICE EXCESSIVE FORCE CLAIMS
The Supreme Court blocked the deportations of Venezuelans in North Texas through a late-night order last month after multiple lower courts had declined to halt the deportations, which activists claimed were imminent.
The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 authorizes the rapid deportation of migrants from countries with which the United States is at war or that are attempting an invasion. President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act for Tren de Aragua, declaring a “predatory incursion” by the gang, and has sought to deport suspected gang members despite various legal hurdles.