The U.S. Supreme Court gave Donald Trump a win on Monday, allowing him to use a 1798 wartime law to quickly deport alleged Venezuelan Gang members in line with the Republican President’s hardline immigration approach.
The court granted the request of the administration to lift the March 15 order by U.S. Judge James Boasberg in Washington, which had temporarily blocked summary deportations based on Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act.
Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act to deport Tren de Aragua members on March 15th in an attempt to expedite removals. This law is best known for being used to intern Japanese and Italian immigrants during World War II.
In a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on the same date, a group of Venezuelan men held in custody by U.S. Immigration authorities sued to stop the deportations. They also sued others who were in a similar situation. The group argued that Trump’s deportation order was beyond his authority because the Alien Enemies Act only allows removals when the United States is invaded or war has been declared.
The Alien Enemies Act allows the president to deport or detain individuals who have a primary allegiance to a foreign country and could pose a threat to national security during wartime.
Boasberg was appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama and temporarily stopped the deportations. Trump’s administration, however, allowed two planes that were already in flight to continue to El Salvador. There, they handed over 238 Venezuelans to Salvadoran officials to be held in the “Terrorism Confinement Center” of the Central American nation.
The judge has also examined whether the Trump Administration violated the order he issued by failing to return deportation flights following its issuance. Justice Department lawyers claimed that the flights were already out of U.S. Airspace when Boasberg gave a written order, and therefore, they did not have to return. They questioned the validity of Boasberg’s order, which he had made during an earlier hearing, calling for planes with deportees be turned around.
Trump’s administration argues that Boasberg’s temporary ban infringes on the presidential authority to make decisions about national security.
Trump’s March 18 call for Boasberg to be impeached by Congress, a process which could remove him from his bench, drew a rebuke from the U.S. chief justice John Roberts. Trump called Boasberg a radical-left lunatic and a troublemaker on social media. Boasberg was confirmed in 2011 by the U.S. Senate with a 96-0 bipartisan vote.
The D.C. Circuit upheld Boasberg’s order following a heated hearing with heated language. Judge Patricia Millett said to Justice Department lawyer Drew Ensign, “Nazis received better treatment under Alien Enemies Act than what happened in this case.” Ensign replied, “We dispute the Nazi comparison.”
Families of deported Venezuelan migrants have denied the alleged gang affiliations. Lawyers representing a Venezuelan soccer player who is also a youth coach said that U.S. officials wrongly labeled the man as a member of a gang based on his tattoo, which was a crown honoring his favorite team, Real Madrid.
