« The detainees are confined in Texas, so venue is improper in the District of Columbia, » read the conservative majority opinion.
The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for the Trump administration to restart deportations of suspected Venezuelan gang members, allowing the use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act after lifting a previous lower court block.
In a narrow 5-4 decision, the justices — in an unsigned opinion — agreed that the administration could apply the centuries-old law to remove alleged members of Venezuelan gangs from the U.S. Trump had labeled the Tren de Aragua gang as terrorists, and his immigration chief, Tom Homan, led a high-profile crackdown last month, arresting numerous suspected gang affiliates across the country and arranging their deportation to Venezuelan prisons, which he referred to as « hell holes. »
Trump Has the Last Laugh
However, Trump’s actions were temporarily halted on March 15 when U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, an Obama appointee, issued a court order halting the deportations. That order has now been overturned by the Supreme Court’s recent decision, giving the president the green light to resume sending suspected gang members back to their native countries.
