Credit: Fred Schilling, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States.
The U.S. Supreme Court issued an early morning decision Saturday temporarily blocking President Donald Trump’s efforts to deport illegal aliens—specifically Venezuelan nationals—using the long-standing Alien Enemies Act of 1798 (AEA).
The far-left ACLU’s case is currently under review by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. After receiving a tip that illegal aliens were being loaded onto buses for removal, the ACLU rushed to the U.S. Supreme Court seeking an emergency injunction to block the deportations.
While waiting for the Fifth Circuit to act, the Court issued an unsigned order siding with the ACLU’s appeal, temporarily halting the removal of dozens of Venezuelans detained at the Bluebonnet Detention Center in Texas.
The ACLU’s petition, filed on behalf of two Venezuelan men identified as A.A.R.P. and W.M.M., claims that the government is violating a recent Supreme Court ruling in Trump v. J.G.G. (April 7, 2025), which mandated that detainees receive adequate notice and a chance to challenge their removal under the AEA.
The plaintiffs argue that the administration is moving too quickly, providing notices in English only and failing to inform detainees of their right to judicial review.
They also allege that some detainees were misidentified as gang members based on tattoos and social media activity.
According to the filing:
“Yesterday, on April 18, 2025, the district court denied the proposed class’s application for a temporary restraining order staying their removal under the AEA, principally on the ground that the government represented that it would not seek to remove two named class members, A.A.R.P. and W.M.M., while their habeas petition is pending.
However, after the district court’s order and starting last night, counsel for Applicants and the proposed class of individuals subject to removal under the AEA 2 were informed that numerous Venezuelan nationals currently in the government’s custody in the Northern District of Texas have received notices that they are subject to removal under the AEA, and further were informed by government officials that they may be removed from the United States as soon as this afternoon or tomorrow. DHS has now publicly announced that AEA removals are imminent.”
According to ACLU, “Plaintiffs learned that the government has begun giving notices of removal to class members, in English only, which do not say how much time individuals have to contest their removal or even how to do so… And officers last night told class members that they will be removed within 24 hours, which expires as early as this afternoon. Upon information and belief, individuals have already been loaded on to buses.”
The court neither granted nor denied the application filed by the detainees’ attorneys but effectively put the case on hold, impacting individuals currently detained in the Northern District of Texas, NBC reported.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito strongly dissented from the majority ruling.
According to the order:
“There is before the Court an application on behalf of a putative class of detainees seeking an injunction against their removal under the Alien Enemies Act. The matter is currently pending before the Fifth Circuit. Upon action by the Fifth Circuit, the Solicitor General is invited to file a response to the application before this Court as soon as possible.
The Government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this Court. See 28 U. S. C. §1651(a). Justice Thomas and Justice Alito dissent from the Court’s order. Statement from Justice Alito to follow.”
President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to target members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) for expedited deportation.
His stated reason was that TdA, designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, was “perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion” against the United States.
Trump claimed the gang, with thousands of members who had illegally infiltrated the U.S., was conducting “irregular warfare” and committing crimes like murders, kidnappings, and trafficking in collaboration with Venezuela’s Maduro regime, aiming to destabilize the U.S.
He argued the act allowed him to detain and deport non-naturalized Venezuelan citizens over 14 years old who were TdA members, bypassing standard immigration processes.
Why do we give these illegal aliens due process when they entered our country without following due process?
This story has been updated with additional information.
