Supreme Court issues halt on Trump deportations

The Supreme Court for a second time barred the Trump administration from using an 18th century wartime law to remove a group of Venezuelan migrants that authorities claim belong to a transnational gang, stepping in after lower courts declined to stop the migrants’ imminent deportation to an El Salvador prison.

Over two dissents, the court extended an earlier order barring Trump from using the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged gang members being held in a Texas detention facility.

That interim order, released around 1 a.m. on April 19, came hours after lawyers said detainees were being put on buses and told they faced imminent deportation. The Court highlighted the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. “The detainees’ interests at stake are accordingly particularly weighty,” the Court said.

The ruling doesn’t determine whether the Alien Enemies Act can be used as the administration wants, but it blocks its enforcement while lower courts consider whether Trump’s proclamation exceeded presidential authority and violated due process.

Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented. This does not mean that the Trump administration’s efforts to deport illegal aliens will be stopped, but it does mean that certain practices of the administration might temporarily be on hold.