The United States Supreme Court has issued an emergency ruling prohibiting the application of an 18th-century wartime law to fast-track the removal of a group of migrants in Texas. This decision is a setback for President Donald Trump’s administration, which had sought to use the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to swiftly expel undocumented immigrants from the US.
Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito were the only conservative justices to dissent from the decision. Although the Supreme Court has not determined the legitimacy of Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act, it did provide an injunction to Venezuelan migrants who were facing expulsion under the outdated law.
The court emphasized that migrants in the US are entitled to due process, or a fair hearing, in the judicial system before facing deportation. This ruling aligned with a prior opinion affirming that migrants have a right to due process.
The case was brought forth by two unnamed Venezuelan migrants, who are being held in a detention center in northern Texas while facing deportation. The Trump administration has accused them and others from Venezuela of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang, portraying undocumented migration into the US as an “invasion.”
However, the Supreme Court’s ruling did not consider the merits of Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act. Instead, it focused on granting relief to the Venezuelan migrants facing imminent deportation under the law.
The majority of the justices noted that the government had taken steps to invoke the Alien Enemies Act on April 18, including transporting the migrants from their detention facility to an airport and later returning them. The court argued that it had the right to intervene to prevent “irreparable harm” to the migrants and to assert its jurisdiction in the case.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh advocated for the Supreme Court to issue a final and binding ruling in the matter. However, Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito argued that the Supreme Court should have given more time to a lower court to rule on the emergency petition.
Trump expressed his disapproval of the ruling on Truth Social, labeling the Supreme Court’s majority as overly lenient towards migrants. He claimed that the decision would result in a long and expensive legal process and hinder his exercise of executive authority.
Critics have accused Trump’s administration of undermining the US’s system of checks and balances, particularly in relation to the courts’ rulings on immigration matters.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) praised the court’s decision, stating that the use of a wartime authority during peacetime without due process raises significant human rights concerns.
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/16/us-supreme-court-blocks-the-trump-administrations-use-of-alien-enemies-act?traffic_source=rss
