The Supreme Court handed President Donald Trump a significant victory on Monday by allowing him to enforce the Alien Enemies Act.
This decision authorizes immigration officials to rely on a broad wartime authority to swiftly deport alleged gang members.
The big picture: The unsigned decision, considered one of the most closely monitored emergency appeals, permits Trump to invoke the 1798 law while ongoing litigation surrounding its usage continues in lower courts.
- The court emphasized that individuals facing deportation should receive notice that they are subject to the act and should be given an opportunity for federal court review at their detention location.
- Despite dissent from the court’s three liberal justices and partial dissent from conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Trump hailed the decision as a triumph for justice in America.
Go deeper: The emergency appeal was framed as a conflict over judicial power, particularly President Trump’s clash with US District Judge James Boasberg, who had temporarily blocked the enforcement of the Alien Enemies Act against a group of Venezuelans.
- The court’s order specified that individuals subject to Trump’s proclamation under the wartime authority should be given adequate notice and reasonable time to challenge their removal through habeas complaints.
- Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the court’s most senior liberal member, cautioned that the Trump administration’s actions in the case posed a threat to the rule of law. Additionally, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson criticized the majority for utilizing the emergency docket to rule on the case, drawing parallels to the controversial Korematsu case from 1944.
State of play: The Supreme Court’s decision came just before a scheduled hearing before Judge Boasberg, who was considering whether to indefinitely block Trump’s use of the wartime authority for deportations.
- Boasberg was also assessing if there was “probable cause” to hold Trump administration officials in contempt for violating his orders regarding deportation flights.
