Donald Trump spent much of his second term in office trying to get as many people out of the United States as possible. He isn’t particularly picky about the means to facilitate this obsession, even turning to the Alien Enemies Act in an obvious act of desperation. However, the recent Supreme Court ruling on immigration has effectively crushed his hopes of using this 18th-century law to his advantage.
US Supreme Court Ruling on Immigration Denies Trump
The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 gives the U.S. president authorization to “detain or deport the natives and citizens of an enemy nation.” Trump used this law in March as an excuse to deport 137 to El Salvador. He argued that the deportees were members of the notorious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which was “conducting irregular warfare” on U.S. soil.
However, Trump’s nonsense has finally hit a stumbling block. In a 7-2 Supreme Court ruling on immigration, it was determined that migrants need to be afforded due process before being deported. The decision stated that the Supreme Court judges “have long held that no person shall be removed from the United States without opportunity, at some time, to be heard.” While the separate ruling on the Alien Enemies Act is yet to come, it is a good indicator of further headaches for Trump.
Trump Finds Support in United States Federal Judge
Trump does have his enablers in the U.S. legal system. Conservatives Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented in the latest US Supreme Court ruling on immigration, while United States federal judge Stephanie Haines from Pennsylvania also showed support.
Haines, who is Trump’s appointee, ruled that Tren de Aragua’s actions can be viewed as an “incursion” and that the President can invoke the Alien Enemies Act. She did add that the administration needs to provide longer notice to migrants before deporting them. This is in contrast with previous rulings of United States federal judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. and several others.
Supreme Court Ruling on Immigration That Went in Trump’s Favor
Trump also scored a win on Monday, when the Supreme Court approved his administration’s emergency appeal to end the immigration protections offered to 350,000 Venezuelans under Temporary Protected Status. University of California law professor Ahilan Arulanantham, who is involved in the case as a lawyer, called this “the largest single action stripping any group of non-citizens of immigration status in modern U.S. history.”
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