Washington DC [US], April 20 (ANI): The Trump administration has petitioned the US Supreme Court to permit the deportation of a group of Venezuelan migrants detained in Texas under alternative legal authorities, following a temporary court order barring their removal under the Alien Enemies Act, CNN reported.
The Justice Department on Saturday argued that while the Supreme Court has currently halted deportations under the controversial 18th-century wartime law, it should allow the use of other, less contentious immigration laws to proceed with the removals.
“The government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this court,” the Supreme Court had stated in its initial order, without specifying which legal authorities the stay applied to.
Seeking to clarify this ambiguity, the administration emphasized that deportations could still legally take place using conventional immigration statutes—even as litigation continues over the use of the Alien Enemies Act, which critics argue lacks sufficient procedural protections.
In a statement released Saturday morning, the White House reaffirmed President Donald Trump’s tough immigration stance:
“President Trump promised the American people to use all lawful measures to remove the threat of terrorist illegal aliens, like members of (Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua), from the United States.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt added,
“We are confident in the lawfulness of the Administration’s actions and in ultimately prevailing against an onslaught of meritless litigation brought by radical activists who care more about the rights of terrorist aliens than those of the American people.”
The legal standoff highlights tensions between the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation agenda and judicial oversight. A federal judge in Washington DC previously acknowledged concerns about the rapid deportations but said he lacked the jurisdiction to intervene.
The case now rests with the Supreme Court, which must determine whether migrants can be deported under traditional immigration laws while challenges to the use of the Alien Enemies Act continue.
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