The Supreme Court on Monday granted President Donald Trump’s
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The Supreme Court on Monday granted President Donald Trump’s request to vacate a lower court’s ruling barring the administration from using a 1798 wartime immigration law to immediately deport Venezuelan nationals – including alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang – from the U.S., marking a significant victory for the administration as it advances key immigration priorities.
Justices on the high court ruled 5-4 to grant the administration’s request to lift the stay, in a temporary victory for Trump and his allies.
At issue was the Alien Enemies Act, or the immigration law passed by Congress in 1789 to immediately remove certain migrants from U.S. soil.
Prior to Trump’s second White House term, it had been invoked just three times in U.S. history: During the War of 1812, during World War I, and most recently, World War II.
Lawyers for the Trump administration had urged the court to vacate the lower court ruling, arguing in a Supreme Court filing that the lower court orders “rebuffed” their immigration agenda, including their ability “to protect the Nation against foreign terrorist organizations and risk debilitating effects for delicate foreign negotiations.”
Supreme Court Justices posing for an official photo at the Supreme Court. (Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)
“Today’s a bad day to be a terrorist in the United States of America,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a video posted to X, adding that Trump “was correct in using his authority on using the Alien Enemies Act to deport terrorists out of this country.”
Meanwhile, Attorney General Pam Bondi called the “landmark” decision a “victory for the rule of law,” adding that an “activist judge” in Washington, D.C., “does not have the jurisdiction to seize control of President Trump’s authority to conduct foreign policy and keep the American people safe.”
“The Department of Justice will continue fighting in court to make America safe again,” Bondi concluded in her statement responding to the ruling.
APPEALS COURT BLOCKS TRUMP ADMIN’S DEPORTATION FLIGHTS IN ALIEN ENEMIES ACT IMMIGRATION SUIT
“This is a major loss for the lunatics and a major win for the American people,” Vice President J.D. Vance responded following the High Court’s ruling. “Onward!”
Attorney General Pam Bondi (LEFT), Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem (MIDDLE) and Vice President J.D. Vance (RIGHT) respond to the Supreme Court’s latest ruling on the Trump administration’s move to deport swaths of Venezuelan gang members. (GETTY IMAGES)
The Supreme Court’s ruling follows a temporary order from U.S. District Judge James Boasberg last month blocking the administration’s use of the 1798 law for 14 days while he considered the case on its merits – a pause upheld by a federal appeals court in a 2–1 decision.
“Nazis got better treatment” than some of the migrants deported under the law, Judge Patricia Millett, an Obama appointee, remarked during the appellate hearing.
Both Boasberg and the appellate panel sharply questioned the administration over Trump’s proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan nationals – and over the three planes that removed hundreds of migrants to El Salvador the very next day.
At least 261 migrants were deported that day, including more than 100 Venezuelans removed “solely on the basis” of the 1798 statute.
The deportation flights reportedly landed around the same time Boasberg issued his temporary halt, raising questions about whether administration officials knowingly defied the order. Boasberg had issued a bench ruling requiring any flights that had already taken off to return “immediately.”
That did not happen.
