In a decision that dusts off the cobwebs of a centuries-old wartime statute, the U.S. Supreme Court has handed Donald Trump a partial win in his effort to fast-track deportations of Venezuelan migrants — but not without drawing boundaries around how far he can go.
The ruling allows Trump to invoke the Alien Enemies Act, a law written when powdered wigs were still in fashion, originally designed for wartime deportations. His target? Alleged members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang accused of exploiting the southern U.S. border. But while the court’s conservative majority gave the green light to resume the deportations, it also insisted on a key requirement: due process.
Under the decision, migrants must be formally notified that they’re being deported under the 1798 law and given time to seek habeas corpus relief — a legal way to challenge their detention in court. The justices didn’t go so far as to decide whether Trump’s use of the statute was actually lawful. That battle’s still looming.
The 5-4 unsigned opinion overturned a lower court’s block on the deportations — a move by District Judge James Boasberg that had temporarily frozen the flights while legal arguments played out. But the Supreme Court said the challenge had to be filed in Texas, where the detainees were held, not in Washington, D.C.
In the eyes of Trump and his allies, the ruling reinforced the presidency’s muscle on matters of national security. “The Supreme Court has upheld the Rule of Law,” Trump posted triumphantly, portraying the move as a victory for borders, families, and the “Country, itself.”
But the celebration wasn’t unanimous.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, writing in dissent, ripped into the ruling’s speed and scope, calling the majority’s logic “dubious” and warning that it could force detainees into a legal labyrinth. She emphasized that requiring scattered, individual habeas filings nationwide could cause “life or death” consequences for those in limbo — especially if transferred without warning.
In her words, the ruling “risks exposing them to severe and irreparable harm.”
The ACLU, representing the migrants, also claimed partial victory. Lead attorney Lee Gelernt said the decision affirms the right to due process, even under the harsh glare of the Alien Enemies Act. “We have to start over in a different court, but we now have Supreme Court affirmation that these people can’t be deported without a fair hearing,” he said.
Boasberg had earlier tried to ground Trump’s deportation flights, but two planes had already left U.S. airspace, whisking 238 Venezuelan men to El Salvador, where they were turned over to that country’s maximum-security “Terrorism Confinement Center.” Whether that act violated the judge’s order is still in dispute — Justice Department attorneys say his written order came too late, despite verbal instructions issued earlier that day.
Trump wasn’t content with merely reversing the block. Days later, he called for Boasberg’s impeachment, labeling him a “Radical Left Lunatic” online — a move that drew public rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts, who typically avoids stepping into the political storm.
Monday’s ruling capped off a string of recent Supreme Court wins for Trump, including decisions that favored his cuts to federal equity initiatives and delayed the return of a wrongfully deported Salvadoran man.
While the justices have not yet ruled on whether Trump’s interpretation of the Alien Enemies Act holds legal water, their message was unmistakable: you can invoke a relic from the past — but you can’t ignore the Constitution in the process.
