The Supreme Court on Saturday issued a temporary order halting the deportations of Venezuelans detained in northern Texas under an 18th century wartime law.
This decision came in response to an emergency appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which argued that immigration authorities appeared poised to resume deportations under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
In a brief order, the court directed the Trump administration not to remove Venezuelans held in the Bluebonnet Detention Center “until further order of this court.”
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented in the ruling.
Earlier in April, the Supreme Court stated that deportations could only proceed if individuals slated for removal had an opportunity to argue their case in court and were given “a reasonable time” to contest their pending removals.
ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt expressed relief over the court’s temporary block of removals, stating, “These individuals were in imminent danger of spending the rest of their lives in a brutal Salvadoran prison without ever having had any due process.”
The ACLU had previously filed lawsuits to stop deportations affecting two Venezuelans held at the Bluebonnet facility and sought a broader order preventing removals of any immigrants in the region under the Alien Enemies Act.
In an emergency filing on Friday, the ACLU warned that immigration authorities were accusing other Venezuelan detainees of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang, thereby subjecting them to potential deportation under President Donald Trump’s application of the act.
Historically, the Alien Enemies Act has been invoked only three times in U.S. history, the most recent occurrence during World War II when Japanese-American civilians were interned in camps.
The Trump administration argued that the act provided them with the power to swiftly remove immigrants identified as gang members, regardless of their immigration status.
Following a unanimous high court order on April 9, federal judges in Colorado, New York, and southern Texas issued orders barring the removal of detainees under the AEA until the government established a process for legitimate claims to be made in court.
However, no such order had been issued in the area of Texas that includes the Bluebonnet Detention Center, located 24 miles north of Abilene.
District Judge James Wesley Hendrix, a Trump appointee, declined to stop the administration from deporting the two men identified in the ACLU case, despite the ACLU’s urgent request, since Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had filed sworn declarations indicating no imminent deportations were planned.
Judge Hendrix also refrained from issuing a broader prohibition against the removal of all Venezuelans in the region, stating that deportations had not yet commenced.
Nonetheless, the ACLU’s Friday filing included sworn declarations from three immigration lawyers asserting that their clients in Bluebonnet were given documents indicating they were linked to Tren de Aragua and faced imminent deportation by Saturday.
One attorney, Karene Brown, reported that her client, referred to by initials, was coerced into signing papers in English, despite having only Spanish proficiency.
Brown noted that ICE informed her client that these documents originated from the President, and that he would be deported regardless of whether he signed them.
During a hearing on Friday evening, ACLU attorney Gelernt presented the argument before District Judge James E. Boasberg in Washington, D.C., mentioning that the administration had initially relocated Venezuelans to a south Texas facility for deportation.
However, since a judge had prohibited deportations in that region, they redirected detainees to Bluebonnet, where no such legal restraint existed.
Gelernt also indicated that there were reports of detainees being loaded onto buses on Friday evening, in preparation for transportation to an airport.
With Judge Hendrix declining the ACLU’s request for an emergency order, the group turned to Judge Boasberg, who had previously halted deportations back in March.
However, the Supreme Court mandated that only judges in the relevant jurisdictions where immigrants are held have the authority to issue orders against deportation, which left Boasberg feeling powerless to act on Friday.
“I’m sympathetic to everything you’re saying,” Boasberg stated to Gelernt. “I just don’t think I have the power to do anything about it.”
Earlier this week, Boasberg found probable cause that the Trump administration committed criminal contempt by disregarding his initial deportation ban.
He expressed concern that the paperwork provided by ICE to detainees did not sufficiently communicate their right to contest their removals in court, a requirement he believed was mandated by the Supreme Court.
Drew Ensign, an attorney representing the Justice Department, countered that individuals scheduled for deportation would at least have 24 hours to challenge their removal in court.
He also claimed that no flights were planned for Friday night and he was unaware of any that were scheduled for Saturday, although the Department of Homeland Security retained the right to proceed with deportations if necessary.
ICE has yet to comment publicly on the ongoing litigation.
Separately, a Massachusetts judge recently made permanent a temporary ban preventing the administration from deporting immigrants who have exhausted their appeals to countries other than their homelands, unless they are informed of their destination and allowed the opportunity to object if they face potential torture or death there.
Some Venezuelans potentially subject to Trump’s application of the Alien Enemies Act have been sent to El Salvador, where they are housed in a notorious major prison.
image source from：https://www.npr.org/2025/04/19/g-s1-61385/supreme-court-block-deportations
