Supreme Court blocks, for now, new deportations under 18th century wartime law
Joe Biden is looking to make some changes. Image via AP.

U.S. Supreme Court SCOTUS Justices
The administration is expected to return to the Supreme Court quickly in an effort to persuade the justices to lift their temporary order.

The Supreme Court on Saturday blocked, for now, the deportations of any Venezuelans held in northern Texas under an 18th century wartime law.

In a brief order, the court directed the Trump administration not to remove Venezuelans held in the Bluebonnet Detention Center “until further order of this court.”

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented.

The high court acted in an emergency appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union contending that immigration authorities appeared to be moving to restart removals under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The Supreme Court had said earlier in April that deportations could proceed only if those about to be removed had a chance to argue their case in court and were given “a reasonable time” to contest their pending removals.

“We are deeply relieved that the Court has temporarily blocked the removals. These individuals were in imminent danger of spending the rest of their lives in a brutal Salvadoran prison without ever having had any due process,” ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt said in an email.

On Friday, two federal judges refused to step in as lawyers for the men launched a desperate legal campaign to prevent their deportation, even as one judge said the case raised legitimate concerns. Early Saturday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also refused to issue an order protecting the detainees from being deported.

The administration is expected to return to the Supreme Court quickly in an effort to persuade the justices to lift their temporary order.

The ACLU had already sued to block deportations of two Venezuelans held in the Bluebonnet facility and sought an order barring removals of any immigrants in the region under the Alien Enemies Act.

In an emergency filing early Friday, the ACLU warned that immigration authorities were accusing other Venezuelan men held there of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang, which would make them subject to President Donald Trump’s use of the act.

The act has only been invoked three previous times in U.S. history, most recently during World War II to hold Japanese-American civilians in internment camps. The Trump administration contended it gave them power to swiftly remove immigrants they identified as members of the gang, regardless of their immigration status.

Following the unanimous high court order on April 9, federal judges in Colorado, New York and southern Texas promptly issued orders barring removal of detainees under the AEA until the administration provides a process for them to make claims in court.

But there had been no such order issued in the area of Texas that covers Bluebonnet, which is located 24 miles north of Abilene in the far northern end of the state.

U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix, a Trump appointee, this week declined to bar the administration from removing the two men identified in the ACLU lawsuit because Immigration and Customs Enforcement filed sworn declarations that they would not be immediately deported. He also balked at issuing a broader order prohibiting removal of all Venezuelans in the area under the act because he said removals hadn’t started yet.

But the ACLU’s Friday filing included sworn declarations from three separate immigration lawyers who said their clients in Bluebonnet were given paperwork indicating they were members of Tren de Aragua and could be deported by Saturday. In one case, immigration lawyer Karene Brown said her client, identified by initials, was told to sign papers in English even though the client only spoke Spanish.

“ICE informed F.G.M. that these papers were coming from the President, and that he will be deported even if he did not sign it,” Brown wrote.

Gelernt said in a Friday evening hearing before District Judge James E. Boasberg in Washington, D.C., that the administration initially moved Venezuelans to its south Texas immigration facility for deportation. But since a judge banned deportations in that area, it has funneled them to the Bluebonnet facility, where no such order exists. He said witnesses reported the men were being loaded on buses Friday evening to be taken to the airport.

With Hendrix not agreeing to the ACLU’s request for an emergency order, the group turned to Boasberg, who initially halted deportations in March. The Supreme Court ruled the orders against deportation could only come from judges in jurisdictions where immigrants were held, which Boasberg said made him powerless Friday.

“I’m sympathetic to everything you’re saying,” Boasberg told Gelernt. “I just don’t think I have the power to do anything about it.”

Boasberg this week found there’s probable cause that the Trump administration committed criminal contempt by disobeying his initial deportation ban. He was concerned that the paper that ICE was giving those held did not make clear they had a right to challenge their removal in court, which he believed the Supreme Court mandated.

Drew Ensign, an attorney for the Justice Department, disagreed, saying that people slated for deportation would have a “minimum” of 24 hours to challenge their removal in court. He said no flights were scheduled for Friday night and he was unaware of any Saturday, but the Department of Homeland Security said it reserved the right to remove people then.

ICE said it would not comment on the litigation.

Also Friday, a Massachusetts judge made permanent his temporary ban on the administration deporting immigrants who have exhausted their appeals to countries other than their home countries unless they are informed of their destination and given a chance to object if they’d face torture or death there.

Some Venezuelans subject to Trump’s Alien Enemies Act have been sent to El Salvador and housed in its notorious main prison.

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Republished with permission of the Associated Press.

Associated Press


9 comments

  • Fu too

    April 19, 2025 at 8:25 am

    They need cheap Labor for slavery economy ..just like they need to extort everything and everyone personal information.for violations against you.

    • Earl Pitts "Media Expert" American

      April 19, 2025 at 8:53 am

      Good Morn’Ting Sage Patriots, and Earl’s Besty Lefty’s who “SAW THE LIGHT” and abandoned the “DOOK-A-CRAT” Party to cast your many, Many, MANY, Votes for Donald J. Trump,
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      Stand by for an All Critical media ‘WARNING”:
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      “We interupt your reading of the above artical to warn you that it is an A. P. disgusting piece of “Leftist Slanted Media Abuse”.
      Please tune into Fox News right away for a “Fair And Ballanced” update on what “THE SUPREAMS” rulling Really means to “We, The American People”.
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      You are now being returned to your “Regurally Scheduled Saturday Morn ‘Ting Activities”.
      *The above public service anouncement/warning has been provided courtsey of The Earl Pitts American “Political Science Division” and personally approved for immeadiate release to the public by Earl Pitts “Media Expert” American*

      • A Highly Placed Govornment Official

        April 19, 2025 at 9:18 am

        Thanks for getting the above warning out so quickly to America, Earl, just so you know, I’ve assigned Big Balls to look into the de-funding of the a. p. as we have deemed them to be a terrorst media propaganda orginization.
        A Highly Placed Govornment Official

  • Paul Passarelli

    April 19, 2025 at 1:33 pm

    Having illegal aliens locked up at taxpayer expense is less than ideal. But as long as they are not part of the ‘catcn-n-release’ strategy of Biden & Obama, it’s OK.

    How long will it take to deport them? Idunno. But I suggest that the judges that argued for their retention be personally presented with the invoices for keeping them here!

  • Andrew

    April 19, 2025 at 1:47 pm

    Well, Judge Bozoberg, it looks like your 15 minutes of fame are finally over (even after running over 30 minutes) and you are now finished. Bye Bye!!!! Take your papers and go home now, or choose to further waste everyone’s time and finish off you quest for political suicide. As we used to say back in the day —- “You Lose Buckwheat” !!!!!!

  • Michael K

    April 20, 2025 at 8:20 am

    Due process is a Constitutional protection. It’s that simple. It’s a fundamental right guaranteed to all people – citizens and non-citizens – embedded in the 5th and 14th Amendments.

    • Oscar

      April 27, 2025 at 8:48 pm

      The only rights criminal aliens have is the right to be deported or the right to be incarcerated. Respect our laws or pay the price. By unlawfully entering the US or unlawfully remaining in the US, you are entitled to nothing.

  • Fun fact

    April 21, 2025 at 3:49 pm

    Judge should be looking at why the broke and disregarded the lottery system. That includes budget wise 😜🦉

    • Fun fact

      April 21, 2025 at 3:50 pm

      Judge should be looking at why the broke and disregarded the lottery system. That includes budget wise 😜🦉 why don’t they want the lottery system. And how they could predict a whole new society by 2050

Comments are closed.


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