US Supreme Court blocks, for now, new deportations under 18th century wartime law

The Supreme Court on Saturday blocked, for now, the deportations of any Venezuelans held in northern Texas under an 18th century wartime law. In a brief order, the court directed the Trump administration not to remove Venezuelans held in the Bluebonnet Detention Centre "until further order of this court".

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented.

The high court acted in an emergency appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union contending that immigration authorities appeared to be moving to restart removals under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.

Two federal judges refused to step in and the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has yet to act.

The American Civil Liberties Union on Friday unsuccessfully asked two federal judges to order the Trump administration not to deport any Venezuelans held in northern Texas under an 18th century wartime law, contending that immigration authorities appeared to be moving to restart removals despite the US Supreme Court's restrictions on how it can use the act.

Later in the day, the ACLU filed emergency petitions with both the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the US Supreme Court itself to halt the deportations, even as one of the judges said it raised legitimate concerns but he could not issue an order.

The group has already sued to block deportations under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 of two Venezuelans held in the Bluebonnet Detention Centre and is asking a judge to issue an order barring removals of any immigrants in the region under the law.

In an emergency filing early Friday, the ACLU warned that immigration authorities were accusing other Venezuelan men held there of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang, which would make them subject to President Donald Trump's use of the act.

The act has only been invoked three previous times in US history, most recently during World War II to hold Japanese-American civilians in internment camps. The Trump administration contended it gave them power to swiftly remove immigrants they identified as members of the gang, regardless of their immigration status.

The ACLU and the group Democracy Forward immediately sued to halt deportations under the act. The US Supreme Court allowed deportations to resume, but ruled unanimously they could proceed only if those about to be removed had a chance to argue their case in court and were given "a reasonable time" to contest their pending removals.

Federal judges in Colorado, New York and southern Texas promptly issued orders barring removal of detainees under the AEA until the administration provides a process for them to make claims in court. But there's been no such order issued in the area of Texas that covers Bluebonnet, which is located 24 miles north of Abilene in the far northern end of the state.

District Judge James Wesley Hendrix, a Trump appointee, this week declined to bar the administration from removing the two men identified in the ACLU lawsuit because Immigration and Customs Enforcement filed sworn declarations that they would not be immediately deported.

He also balked at issuing a broader order prohibiting removal of all Venezuelans in the area under the act because he said removals hadn't started yet.

But the ACLU's Friday filing includes sworn declarations from three separate immigration lawyers who said their clients in Bluebonnet were given paperwork indicating they were members of Tren de Aragua and could be deported by Saturday.

In one case, immigration lawyer Karene Brown said her client, identified by initials, was told to sign papers in English even though the client only spoke Spanish.

"ICE informed F.G.M. that these papers were coming from the President, and that he will be deported even if he did not sign it," Brown wrote.

ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt said in a Friday evening hearing before District Judge James E. Boasberg in Washington, DC, that the administration initially moved Venezuelans to its south Texas immigration facility for deportation. But, since a judge banned deportations in that area, it has funnelled them to the Bluebonnet facility, where no such order exists. He said witnesses reported the men were being loaded on buses Friday evening to be taken to the airport.

With Hendrix not agreeing to the ACLU's request for an emergency order, the group turned to Boasberg, who initially halted deportations in March. The Supreme Court ruled the orders against deportation could only come from judges in jurisdictions where immigrants were held, which Boasberg said made him powerless Friday.

"I'm sympathetic to everything you're saying," Boasberg told Gelernt. "I just don't think I have the power to do anything about it."

Boasberg this week found there's probable cause that the Trump administration committed criminal contempt by disobeying his initial deportation ban.

He was concerned that the paper that ICE was giving those held did not make clear they had a right to challenge their removal in court, which he believed the Supreme Court mandated.

Drew Ensign, an attorney for the Justice Department, disagreed, saying that people slated for deportation would have a "minimum" of 24 hours to challenge their removal in court.

He said no flights were scheduled for Friday night and he was unaware of any Saturday but the Department of Homeland Security said it reserved the right to remove people then.

ICE said it would not comment on the litigation.

Also Friday, a Massachusetts judge made permanent his temporary ban on the administration deporting immigrants who have exhausted their appeals to countries other than their home countries unless they are informed of their destination and given a chance to object if they'd face torture or death there.

Some countries, like Venezuela, do not accept deportations from the United States, which has led the Trump administration to strike agreements with other countries like Panama to house them. Venezuelans subject to Trump's Alien Enemies Act have been sent to El Salvador and housed in its notorious main prison.