WASHINGTON — The US Supreme Court handed Donald Trump a legal win Monday by lifting a lower court order that had blocked the deportation of undocumented Venezuelan migrants under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA) — a law historically used only during wartime.
The 5-4 ruling, led by the Court’s conservative majority, allows the Trump administration to resume deportations for now. However, the Court clarified that migrants must be given notice and the opportunity to legally challenge their removal.
“AEA detainees must receive notice… that they are subject to removal under the Act. Detainees… are entitled to notice and an opportunity to challenge their removal,” the decision read.
The ruling comes after District Judge James Boasberg halted deportations in March, citing concerns that Venezuelans were being unjustly deported to a brutal prison in El Salvador, with many reportedly targeted based on tattoos rather than criminal records.
The Court lifted Boasberg’s orders mainly due to a technical issue about jurisdiction, noting that the case was filed in Washington while the detainees are held in Texas.
Despite this, the ACLU, which challenged the deportations, called the recognition of due process rights an “important victory.”
Trump celebrated the ruling on Truth Social:
“The Supreme Court has upheld the Rule of Law… A GREAT DAY FOR JUSTICE IN AMERICA!”
However, liberal justices dissented, with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson warning,
“The President… has invoked a centuries-old wartime statute to whisk people away to a notoriously brutal, foreign-run prison. For lovers of liberty, this should be quite concerning.”
Justice Sonia Sotomayor added,
“The Government’s conduct… poses an extraordinary threat to the rule of law. We… should be better than this.”
The case now heads back to the lower courts, where the legality of using the AEA in peacetime deportations will likely face further challenges.
