AILSA CHANG, HOST:
The U.S. Supreme Court has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deporting a group of immigrants in Texas under the Alien Enemies Act. The rare wartime power was invoked by the Trump administration to quickly deport Venezuelans that it deems are members of a criminal organization. NPR's Sergio Martínez-Beltrán is joining us now from Texas. Hi, Sergio.
SERGIO MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN, BYLINE: Hey, Ailsa.
CHANG: OK, so what did the majority of the Supreme Court say exactly in this ruling?
MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN: Yeah, so the court says the Trump administration did not give people at a detention center in northern Texas enough time to challenge their deportations under the Alien Enemies Act. Now, the unsigned order says detainees are entitled to more notice than the roughly 24 hours the government gave the Venezuelan men at the center of this case. Now, it's important to note, Ailsa, that conservative justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented. The court was also clear that today's ruling did not address the question of whether Trump's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act was legal.
CHANG: OK, interesting. What else stands out to you, as someone who's followed this case so closely?
MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN: Yeah. I mean, I think this ruling makes it clear that the Supreme Court is paying attention and keeping track of the Trump administration's actions when it comes to quick removals. Many of the cases related to removals under the Alien Enemies Act, and even under other circumstances, have questioned whether the Trump administration has violated due process.
And the Supreme Court today mentioned one of those cases, that of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. He's a Maryland man the Trump administration says was mistakenly deported to El Salvador. That's despite a 2019 order prohibiting the U.S. government from removing him to the country specifically. Now, the Trump administration has said it can't bring Abrego Garcia back because he's now under the jurisdiction of El Salvador and claims he's a gang member and back in El Salvador where he belongs.
The Supreme Court pointed at that case and basically said it does not want to lose jurisdiction of - if people are flown out of the country in the blink of an eye and while the courts resolve some outstanding issues. It said, quote, "the detainees' interests at stake are accordingly particularly weighty." The court also said, quote, "we have long held that no person shall be removed from the United States without opportunity at some time to be heard."
CHANG: OK. So do we know what is next for this case here?
MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN: Yeah. The Supreme Court says this order is meant to preserve its jurisdiction over the case, and this is while the lower courts make a decision on how much time or notice should be given to migrants subject of removal under the Alien Enemies Act. But for now, the Venezuelan men in northern Texas will remain in the U.S. The court did say, Ailsa, that this order does not stop the government from removing people from the U.S. under other lawful authorities.
CHANG: I mean, Sergio, this all seems like a setback for President Trump, right? How has the administration reacted to this latest news from the court?
MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN: So we have reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment, but we have yet to hear from the agency. Now, shortly after the Supreme Court order came down, President Trump posted on Truth Social, quote, "the Supreme Court won't allow us to get criminals out of our country," end quote. I mean, he's clearly frustrated, right? This is a significant loss for him. Remember, he's pledged to remove millions of migrants without legal status from the U.S., and the Alien Enemies Act is one of the tools he's using. He's already removed more than 100 Venezuelans under this law, and they've been sent to El Salvador, not even their home countries. And there are still unresolved questions, right? The big one is whether the use of the Alien Enemies Act is legal or not. And that's a question the courts, and potentially the Supreme Court, will have to answer at some point.
CHANG: That is NPR's Sergio Martínez-Beltrán. Thank you so much, Sergio.
MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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