The US Supreme Court has halted the Trump administration’s deportation of a group of individuals accused of being Venezuelan gang members.
These individuals are detained in North Texas under a wartime law from the 18th century, while a civil liberties organization has initiated a lawsuit against the government for not allowing them to contest their cases in court.
President Donald Trump has relocated the accused Venezuelan gang members to a high-security prison in El Salvador, using the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, which grants the president the authority to detain and deport natives or citizens from “enemy” countries without standard legal procedures.
Historically, this act was used only during periods of war, totaling three instances.
The most recent use of this act was during World War II when people of Japanese descent were incarcerated without trial, and thousands were relocated to internment camps.
Since his presidency began in January, Trump’s stringent immigration policies have faced numerous legal challenges.
Trump has labeled the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua as a threat of “invasion or predatory incursion” into the US.
According to a senior administration official speaking to CBS News, the BBC’s US news partner, of the 261 Venezuelans deported to El Salvador by April 8, 137 were deported under the Alien Enemies Act.
A lower court temporarily halted these deportations on March 15.
The Supreme Court’s initial decision on April 8 allowed Trump to deport the alleged gang members under the Alien Enemies Act but mandated that the deportees must have an opportunity to appeal their deportation.
The lawsuit leading to Saturday’s ruling highlighted that the detained Venezuelans in North Texas had received deportation notices in English, although one of the detainees only spoke Spanish.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) argued that the detainees were not informed of their right to challenge the deportation decision in court.
The lawsuit stated, “Without the intervention of this Court, potentially dozens or hundreds of class members could be sent to face life imprisonment in El Salvador without a real chance to contest their classification or deportation.”
Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito expressed disagreement with the decision on Saturday.
During his second inaugural address in January, Trump vowed to eradicate all foreign gangs and criminal networks that bring severe crime to American soil.
In a notable instance, the government acknowledged the erroneous deportation of Kilmar Ábrego García, a national of El Salvador, but insists he is associated with the MS-13 gang, a claim his lawyer and family contest. Mr. Ábrego García has never been legally convicted of a crime.
The Supreme Court unanimously decided that the government should assist in returning Mr. Ábrego García, yet the Trump administration has stated he will “never” be allowed back in the US.
Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland, visited Mr. Ábrego García in El Salvador and reported that he had been transferred from the mega-jail Cecot (Terrorism Confinement Centre) to another prison.
