Supreme Court Temporarily Halts Deportation of Suspected Venezuelan Gang Members Under Alien Enemies Act

The United States Supreme Court has issued a temporary order halting the Trump administration’s plan to deport a group of Venezuelan migrants accused of belonging to the notorious Tren de Aragua gang. The move effectively pauses deportations under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act until further notice, as first reported by NBC News.

In its unsigned order, the Supreme Court stated, “Government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this Court.” While the Court did not rule directly on the merits of the application filed by attorneys representing the detainees, it blocked the removals for now. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented from the decision.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which is representing the migrants, the goal of the request was not to stop all deportations indefinitely but to ensure that their clients would not be sent to what they described as “a notorious prison in El Salvador” without first being given due process by the U.S. judicial system.

ABC News reported that the migrants are currently detained at a facility in Anson, Texas. Court documents submitted by ACLU lawyers include a notice allegedly given to the detainees that stated: “You have been determined to be … a member of Tren de Aragua,” and “an alien enemy subject to apprehension, restraint and removal from the United States.” The notice clarified that the removal proceedings were not being carried out under standard immigration law but under the Alien Enemies Act, which grants the executive branch sweeping authority in times of conflict.

The New York Times reported that more than 50 Venezuelan nationals were scheduled to be deported from the Texas facility, prompting ACLU attorneys to mount emergency legal challenges across three different courts within a five-hour window last Friday.

After U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix declined to block the deportations, the ACLU filed a similar request with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans, and then escalated the matter to the Supreme Court.

In March, former President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act to authorize the rapid removal of illegal Venezuelan migrants believed to be affiliated with Tren de Aragua—a transnational criminal gang that has expanded its operations in South America and reportedly made inroads into the United States.

The Supreme Court had previously sided with the administration in a 5–4 ruling that lifted a lower court block issued by Judge James Boasberg, allowing the removals to proceed. This latest stay, however, has thrown that momentum into question as the case continues to unfold.