Trump rebels against the blockade on Venezuelan deportations and takes it to the Supreme Court.
This is the president's main front with the judiciary, and the high court's decision could mark a turning point in the campaign against migrants.
WashingtonThe Donald Trump administration has escalated the legal battle over the deportation of Venezuelans to the last court in the judicial circuit: the Supreme Court. The White House filed an emergency appeal this Friday to the high court to request that it overturn the block that federal judge James Boasberg imposed on the Alien Enemies Act, a war law created in 1789, with the aim of quickly expelling migrants considered collaborators of enemy countries from the country. Under this law, Trump deported more than 200 Venezuelans to El Salvador without due process. on charges of allegedly belonging to the Tren de Aragua criminal gang. But a federal judge blocked it on March 15.
The appeal filed with the Supreme Court is a parallel offshoot of Trump's ongoing war against Judge Boasberg, who must determine whether the government ignored his order to expel migrants from the Central American country's prisons. It is a legally very sensitive case, since if the Supreme Court rules in his favor, the president would have a clear path to accelerate his deportation campaign.
Relatives of many of the Venezuelans who have been sent to El Salvador's prisons claim that their husbands, partners, brothers, or sons have no connection to the Tren de Aragua. All claim that the deportees were detained solely because of their tattoos, even though they had no relationship with the criminal group. People who are targeted under the Alien Enemies Act essentially lose the right to see a judge, so a government accusation is enough to get them deported.
When Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act, he justified it by declaring oneAn alleged "invasion" of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua in the United StatesMigrant rights groups fear that, if the law is implemented, it will stigmatize the Venezuelan migrant community and further incentivize arrests of Venezuelans.
Trump is promoting an aggressive campaign of terror against the migrant community by threatening to deport undocumented individuals in El Salvador's prisons. The express deportation of more than 200 Venezuelans has served to bolster the new administration's propaganda machine. On Thursday, Interior Secretary Kristi Noem recorded a video from Nayib Bukele's prison to reinforce this message: "That's what will happen to you if you come to the United States." The words are directed not only at people considering crossing the border, but also at those currently in the country. Some of the Venezuelans detained and deported without due process in El Salvador were in the process of seeking political asylum, which can take years.
The request comes after the Washington Circuit Court of Appeals denied the same request filed by the Trump administration. During opening arguments, Judge Patricia Millet stated that Nazis were treated better when the Enemies Alien Act was applied to them during World War II than Venezuelans.
The Enemies Alien Act allows those to whom it applies to be exempted from prosecution. Before Trump, the law had only been used three times. The last time was during World War II to detain and deport Japanese, German, and Italian immigrants.
