Venezuelans: US Supreme Court halts deportations under 18th century wartime law
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Under an 18th century wartime law, the US Supreme Court on Saturday temporarily blocked the deportations of any Venezuelans held in northern Texas, the media reported.
In a brief order, the SC directed the Trump administration not to remove Venezuelans held in the Bluebonnet Detention Centre “until further order of this court”.
The court acted in an emergency appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) contending that immigration authorities appeared to be moving to restart removals under the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) of 1798, passed after the 1776 Declaration of American Independence.
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 thrice so far 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 (ICE) 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.
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 AEA have been sent to El Salvador and housed in its notorious main prison.
