The U.S. Supreme Court temporarily stopped President Donald Trump from using an old law to deport Venezuelan migrants without due process. The decision came early Saturday and paused the use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, last used during World War II.
In response, Trump criticised the judiciary on his Truth Social account, calling judges and law enforcement “weak and ineffective.” Justice Samuel Alito, one of the dissenting justices, said the court acted in an unusual and legally questionable way by ruling without hearing both sides.
Democrats and rights groups say Trump is abusing his power by deporting migrants without proper legal hearings. Senator Amy Klobuchar warned that the country is “closer and closer to a constitutional crisis.”
Two of the nine justices on the Supreme Court, conservatives Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, dissented from the decision.
The court issued the ruling following an emergency appeal filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), contending that immigration authorities appeared to be moving to restart removals under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
Trump’s use of the wartime legislation, last used during World War II, to deport alleged members of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang by claiming they are “conducting irregular warfare” in the US has prompted a vigorous debate over the constitution’s ability to rein in executive power.
The country’s top court issued the order to pause the deportation of the men in immigration custody early on Saturday, after their lawyers filed an urgent petition citing an imminent risk of removal without due process.
The ruling sets up the possibility of another challenge by the Trump administration to the power of the courts, and even a full-blown constitutional crisis.
“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,” the justices wrote in an unsigned order.