The US Supreme Court has ruled that the Trump administration can resume its deportations of Venezuelans under the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act, provided that they are given a court hearing.
The decision, issued on Monday evening, overturned a lower court ruling that had temporarily blocked the government’s controversial deportation policy.
The 5-4 ruling found that Venezuelan migrants accused of gang involvement must be given “reasonable time” to challenge their expulsion. Additionally, the majority justices argued that the lawsuit filed by lawyers representing five Venezuelans in Washington was wrongly placed, as the migrants were being held in Texas.
The ruling follows the deportation of 238 Venezuelans to a large prison in El Salvador, despite an order from US District Judge James E. Boasberg for the planes to turn around. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who voted in favor of the decision, emphasized that all justices agreed the migrants should receive judicial review, with the only debate being over where that review should take place.
Liberal justices, including Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and Elena Kagan, dissented, with Sotomayor questioning the legal use of the Alien Enemies Act. The law, which was invoked by President Trump in March to address threats from the Tren De Aragua gang, has only been used on three other occasions in US history—during the War of 1812, World War I, and World War II.
“There is, of course, no ongoing war between the United States and Venezuela. Nor is Tren de Aragua itself a ‘foreign nation’,” Sotomayor wrote in her dissent.
The Trump administration celebrated the decision, with the president calling it a “great day for justice in America.” Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, who recently visited the Salvadoran prison where the deported Venezuelans are being held, praised the ruling, framing it as a victory in protecting the country from “terrorists using wartime powers.”
Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which filed the case on behalf of the five Venezuelan migrants, acknowledged the ruling’s emphasis on due process for non-US citizens as an important victory. ACLU Attorney Lee Gelernt stated that it marked a crucial win in ensuring fair treatment for those facing deportation.
