The Supreme Court issued an emergency ruling on Saturday that prevents the Trump administration from deporting more than 50 Venezeulan illegal immigrants. The illegal immigrants were housed in Anson, Texas, when the ACLU brought suit in three different courts, including the Supreme Court. The decision was issued about 1 am.
The unsigned ruling reads: "The government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this court." It also ready that the government may not "remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this court."
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito both dissented. The ruling also noted that the dispute "is currently pending" before the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, one of the courts to which the ACLU appealed. The Fifth Circuit responded to the Supreme Court order, turning down the detainees request for a stay. Alito will be issuing a statement, per SCOTUS Blog.
The Trump administration was using the Alien Enemies Act to legally deport the illegal immigrants from the United States when the ACLU filed a case with the Northern District of Texas, which later rejected the ACLU's request to halt all deportations in that district. As they were waiting for the Northern District's ruling under Judge James Wesley Hendrix, the ACLU filed a second case with the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans and also an emergency petition with the Supreme Court.
The ACLU has also sought to protect illegal immigrants from deportation in New York, Denver, and Brownsville, Texas. The Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that those who were subject to deportation under the Alien Enemies Act can challenge their deportation, but only in the locations where they are currently being held.
That decision, also unsigned, allowed Trump to use the law, so long as those who are subject to it are given notice so they have time to bring forth complaints. "The detainees subject to removal orders under the AEA are entitled to notice and an opportunity to challenge their removal." In that case, Justice Amy Coney Barrett offered dissent.
The ACLU has demanded that the federal government give 30 days notice to anyone they are seeking to deport under the Alien Enemies Act. ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt told Judge James Boasberg on Friday that it was his intention to filed what are essentially "pre-emptive" lawsuits in all 90 federal districts nationwide to make sure that no Venezuelan illegal immigrants are deported.
Trump and his Cabinet have been trying to remove gang members and criminals who entered the United States illegally. Under the Biden administration, some 10 million illegal immigrants were granted entry to the United States under varying degrees of legal status from completely undocumented to temporary protected status or asylum seekers pending a court date.
