The Supreme Court, in a 7-2 ruling, extended its injunction that temporarily bars the Trump administration from removing Venezuelan immigrants from the United States under the Alien Enemies Act proclamation and remanded the case to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to resolve the question of how much time should be afforded for detainees to contest their removals.
The majority said the government did not provide migrants targeted under the wartime authority with enough time or information to contest their cases.
“The detainees’ interests at stake are accordingly particularly weighty. Under these circumstances, notice roughly 24 hours before removal, devoid of information about how to exercise due process rights to contest that removal, surely does not pass muster,” the majority wrote in the decision. “But it is not optimal for this Court, far removed from the circumstances on the ground, to determine in the first instance the precise process necessary to satisfy the Constitution in this case.”
The U.S. Supreme Court, May 14, 2025 in Washington.
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The order applied to migrants held in Texas. The justices did not reach the question of the lawfulness of the removals under the Alien Enemies Act.
“We recognize the significance of the Government’s national security interests as well as the necessity that such interests be pursued in a manner consistent with the Constitution. In light of the foregoing, lower courts should address AEA cases expeditiously,” they wrote.
Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented.
Lee Gelernt, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, told ABC News in a statement on Friday that the Supreme Court “correctly put a pause” on the use of the Alien Enemies Act.
“For now, this means that no more individuals can be hurried away to a brutal foreign prison, perhaps incommunicado for the rest of their lives,” he said.
Earlier this week, the Trump administration asked the court to lift its injunction, arguing that the migrants it intended to deport under the act were dangerous.
The court’s original order came down as a rare overnight ruling in the early hours on Saturday, April 19, and blocked the administration from deporting the Texas migrants.
-ABC News’ Laura Romero and Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.
