The ruling says the Trump administration can evoke the law, but retirees have the right to challenge their removal.
The US Supreme Court ruled that President Donald Trump’s administration could continue to expel Venezuelan immigrants under 18th century wartime law, but ordered them to be granted “reasonable time” to appear before the judge.
In a 5-4 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday overturned an order from a lower federal court that sought to temporarily block a summary deportation under the Alien Enemy Act of 1798.
The Trump administration was deported by the last law used during World War II to claim members of the Venezuela Tren de Aragua gang “they were “treating an irregular war” in the United States.
The administration deported hundreds of people to El Salvador after Trump took office in January, but on March 15 the flight carrying the deported was stopped by a federal judge.
The Supreme Court ruled that the administration could use wartime law to deport the country, but said the fortress still had the right to legitimate procedures and had the opportunity to “challenge the notice and remove it.”
In dissent, the three Liberal judges in the court were joined by conservative judge Amy Connie Barrett. Amy Connie Barrett agreed with some of their arguments.
Both Trump and the American Civil Liberties Union, who represented five Venezuelans in the incident, cast the ruling as victory.
In another ruling Monday, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked a lower court ruling that ordered the Trump administration to return Salvador men to the United States after he was mistakenly deported.
The lower court’s decision called for the return of Kilmer Abrego Garcia from El Salvador.
A temporary stay at the Supreme Court gives nine judges time to consider the case.
Abrego Garcia, a US resident who married a American citizen, was granted protection from deportation in a 2019 ruling.
US government lawyers claim Abrego Garcia is a member of the international gangster MS-13, an allegation that his lawyer denied.
The Trump administration designated MS-13 as a “terrorist organization” in January.