SCOTUS Freezes Alien Enemy Removals In Rare, Urgent, Late-Night Order

In a swift move, a majority of Supreme Court justices have temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to remove a group of Venezuelans using the Alien Enemies Act. The order was issued in the early hours of Saturday with a sense of urgency as the administration sought to utilize wartime powers to transport Venezuelans to a detention camp in El Salvador without due process. The court instructed the government to refrain from removing any detainee from the United States until further notice.

Notably, Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented from the order. The Supreme Court responded promptly to an emergency application from the ACLU, which aimed to halt the removals of the Venezuelans who had been notified by ICE about imminent deportations under the Alien Enemies Act.

The court’s quick action reflects the seriousness of the situation, suggesting a reaction to the Trump administration’s questionable handling of the removals. The order, issued before Justice Alito could complete his dissent, hinted at the court’s increased vigilance due to potential misrepresentations by the administration. The justices paused the removals following doubts raised during a hearing over the accuracy of the administration’s statements.

The recent events underscore the ongoing conflict over the administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to carry out removals. The previous removals had sparked controversies, including cases where individuals were mistakenly deported despite court orders against it. The administration’s resistance to rectifying these errors further strained its relationship with the judiciary.

Rumors of another round of Alien Enemies Act removals had circulated, leading to legal actions by the ACLU to prevent the imminent deportations. The Venezuelans targeted for removal were relocated to a detention center in Texas, prompting the ACLU to file emergency motions in various courts to block the deportations. Despite initial setbacks in obtaining injunctions, the Supreme Court intervened in the early hours of Saturday to halt the removals temporarily.