On Friday, the Supreme Court granted a request from Venezuelan nationals to suspend their deportation under the Alien Enemies Act, allowing them additional time to contest their removal from the United States.
In a decisive 7-2 ruling, the court determined that the Trump administration had not provided the detainees with sufficient time or resources to properly contest their deportations.
The ruling noted, “Under these circumstances, notice roughly 24 hours before removal, devoid of information about how to exercise due process rights to contest that removal, surely does not pass muster.”
The justices have temporarily halted the removal of individuals accused by the Trump administration of affiliation with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, pending further deliberations from a lower federal appellate court.
However, the court clarified that “the Government may remove the named plaintiffs or putative class members under other lawful authorities.”
President Donald Trump expressed his discontent with the decision on Friday afternoon, stating in a post on Truth Social, “THE SUPREME COURT WON’T ALLOW US TO GET CRIMINALS OUT OF OUR COUNTRY!”
In a subsequent post, he lamented that the court was preventing him from fulfilling his obligations as president, mentioning, “Sleepy Joe Biden allowed MILLIONS of Criminal Aliens to come into our Country without any ‘PROCESS’ but, in order to get them out of our Country, we have to go through a long and extended PROCESS. This is a bad and dangerous day for America!”
The Supreme Court acknowledged the weight of the Venezuelans’ concerns, particularly in light of the government’s argument regarding the improper deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, “an individual deported in error to a prison in El Salvador.”
Notably, the justices did not resolve the question of whether the Trump administration had correctly invoked the Alien Enemies Act to facilitate the deportations.
“To be clear, we decide today only that the detainees are entitled to more notice than was given on April 18,” their ruling stated.
The court emphasized it was providing only temporary relief while the case is sent back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to determine the appropriate notice requirements for those facing removal.
“We recognize the significance of the Government’s national security interests as well as the necessity that such interests be pursued in a manner consistent with the Constitution,” the majority opinion highlighted.
Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas voiced their dissent, arguing that the detainees were not in imminent danger of removal and taking issue with the characterization of a U.S. District Court’s action in this context.
Trump’s administration first activated the Alien Enemies Act against Tren de Aragua in mid-March, citing an executive proclamation that claimed the gang was “perpetrating an invasion” into the United States.
This proclamation mandated that any Venezuelan over 14 who had ties to the gang and lacked legal residency was to be removed and labeled as “chargeable with actual hostility against the United States.”
On Friday morning, Trump again expressed his frustration with the Supreme Court, accusing it of being influenced by “the RADICAL LEFT LOSERS” who rely on “the INTIMIDATION OF THE COURT.” This remark followed the justices’ hearing of oral arguments on a contentious executive order regarding birthright citizenship.
