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By Shane Croucher
Senior Editor
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President Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court for permission to resume his administration's deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act, an 18th-century wartime law.
The Trump Administration's previous efforts to overturn a lower court's temporary order blocking the deportations—which it says are of Venezuelan criminals who pose a threat to the security and safety of Americans—were unsuccessful.
The Department of Justice argued in court papers that federal courts shouldn't interfere with sensitive diplomatic negotiations. It also claimed that migrants should make their case in a federal court in Texas, where they are being detained.
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The order temporarily blocking the deportations was issued by U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg, the chief judge at the federal courthouse in Washington. Trump has called for Boasberg's impeachment over the order.
Why it Matters
Trump was the first president to invoke the Alien Enemies Act since World War II. Mass deportations of undocumented and criminal migrants are a priority of his administration and were a major campaign promise, which he intends to deliver on.
The Alien Enemies Act allows noncitizens to be deported without the opportunity for a hearing before an immigration or federal court judge.
The case has become a flashpoint amid escalating tension between the White House and the federal courts. Trump is trying to exercise the full extent of presidential power, and its limits are inevitably under test in the courts.
While Trump and his allies see judges as overreaching their powers and unduly constraining his democratic mandate, the president's opponents say they're an essential constitutional brake on excesses of the executive branch.
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What to Know
Some of those detained have said they do not belong to the Tren de Aragua criminal gang at the center of Trump's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act, under which it is now classed as an invading force, intended to hasten and simplify the deportation process.
Moments after the act's invocation, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that around 250 people, some allegedly members of the MS-13 and Tren de Aragua gangs, were sent to El Salvador under a $6 million deal with its President Nayib Bukele.
Attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of five Venezuelan noncitizens who were being held in Texas, hours after the proclamation was made public. The court set a Tuesday deadline for a response from the ACLU.
Boasberg imposed a temporary halt on deportations earlier in March and ordered planeloads of Venezuelan immigrants to return to the U.S. But that did not happen. Trump's lawyers said they were already out of American airspace.
The judge has since vowed to determine whether the government defied his order to turn the planes around. The administration has invoked a "state secrets privilege" and refused to give Boasberg any additional information about the deportations.
What People Are Saying
Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris wrote in the filing to the Supreme Court on Friday: "Here, the district court's orders have rebuffed the President's judgments as to how to protect the Nation against foreign terrorist organizations and risk debilitating effects for delicate foreign negotiations."
Judge Boasberg had ruled in his order that immigrants facing deportation must get an opportunity to challenge their designations as alleged gang members. His ruling said there is "a strong public interest in preventing the mistaken deportation of people based on categories they have no right to challenge."
Trump and his allies' call for impeaching Boasberg prompted a rare statement from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who said: "For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose."
What's Next
The Supreme Court, which has a 5-3 majority of conservative judges after Trump's previous appointments, will now consider the administration's request to continue deportations despite Boasberg's order.
This article uses reporting by The Associated Press.
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