Lawyers representing Venezuelan immigrants threatened with deportation filed an emergency request to the Supreme Court on Monday to block the removals. The Trump administration was prepared to deport dozens of Venezuelans to a prison in El Salvador last Friday before the Supreme Court blocked the action.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) called for the Supreme Court to retain the block on the deportations. They emphasize the government’s failure to provide adequate notice to the detainees while denying them the opportunity to challenge their removal.
The ACLU’s filing states:
Whatever due process may require in this context, it does not allow removing a person to a possible life sentence without trial, in a prison known for torture and other abuse, a mere 24 hours after providing an English-only notice form (not provided to any attorney) that gives no information about the person’s right to seek judicial review, much less the process or timeline for doing so.
Monday’s filing further accuses the government of violating the Supreme Court’s ruling by failing to provide proper notice. The attorneys ask the court to set the proper guidelines for doing so, which has been 30 days in advance under past AEA deportations. Lastly, the written filing also calls for the Supreme Court to maintain the block on these deportations, while considering whether AEA may even be invoked outside a time of war against a criminal organization.
Last Friday, detained Venezuelans received notice that they would be removed later that day. As a result, they filed for relief in District Court and subsequently sought emergency relief through the Fifth Circuit and the Supreme Court. The government’s response calls the immigrant’s legal actions “premature.” The ACLU attorneys combat this claim by stating that had these individuals not filed in the Supreme Court, the buses leaving the Texas facility headed to ensure their deportation would not have turned around.
These removals come after Trump issued a proclamation on March 15th, identifying the Tren de Aragua (TdA), a criminal organization based in Venezuela, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Within the proclamation, Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a centuries-old wartime law, which allows the president to deport citizens from enemy nations during times of war or invasion. Trump subsequently ordered the deportation of any Venezuelan it deemed to be a member of the criminal network. The proclamation was met by a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) on the deportations issued by US District Court Judge James Boasberg. However, over 300 Venezuelans were still repatriated to El Salvador despite the orders.
In a ruling on April 7, the Supreme Court vacated the TRO, allowing the deportations of the alleged gang members to resume for the time being. The court ruled that the detainees may challenge their removal through a writ of habeas corpus. Yet, the opinion requires the government to provide notice to the detainees of their removal under the Alien Enemies Act.
