Emergency Petition by the ACLU
On Friday night, the ACLU took urgent legal action, submitting an emergency petition as it was informed that migrants were being transported from a Texas detention center to an airport.
Over 50 Venezuelan migrants were being transported by bus from the Bluebonnet Detention Facility in Anson, Texas, presumably to an airport, when the U.S. Supreme Court intervened early Saturday morning to prevent their deportation. The high court issued a temporary halt in response to the ACLU’s last-minute petition.
“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,” stated the unsigned majority order from the Supreme Court.
Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, known for their conservative views, were the dissenting voices in the decision.
This move by the Trump administration to deport these individuals under the seldom-used Alien Enemies Act of 1798, was notably controversial. Historically, this act has been invoked only three times during wartime. The attempt to deport these men came shortly after a Supreme Court decision last month, which affirmed the administration’s power to deport under this law but emphasized that the migrants must be allowed to challenge their removal in the court districts where they are detained.
Prior to approaching the Supreme Court, the ACLU filed lawsuits in two federal courts on Friday night to prevent the administration from continuing deportations to El Salvador, where recently, many have been sent and held at the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), never to return, according to the White House.
Lee Gelernt, the ACLU’s lead attorney in the case, highlighted that the migrants had received removal notices but were not given a fair opportunity to challenge these orders. The notices were solely in English and lacked any instructions on how to seek legal proceedings. “There’s no box to check to say I want to contest,” said Gelernt on Friday evening. “There’s nothing that indicates a right to contest, or even the timeframe to do so.”
During a court session on Friday night with Chief Judge James Boasberg of the Washington, D.C., District Court, Gelernt expressed that the ACLU was prepared to sue in every federal district in the U.S. to ensure the administration adhered to the Supreme Court’s earlier decision mandating due process.
Drew Ensign, representing the Justice Department, assured Judge Boasberg that no deportations were scheduled for that Friday at Bluebonnet, although the administration reserved the right to commence them on Saturday. He argued that the migrants had been given the necessary notice and that the administration was not obligated to explain the process for contesting deportations.
Judge Boasberg mentioned that he found “probable cause” to believe that the Trump administration could be held in contempt of court—subject to fines or prison—for not complying with his previous order, which had demanded the cessation of deportation flights carrying Venezuelan migrants. These contempt proceedings were paused by an appeals court on Friday evening.
Many individuals have been caught up in President Donald Trump’s extensive deportation initiative, even though in many instances, the only offense they’re accused of is being in the U.S. without proper authorization—a civil violation. Despite a unanimous Supreme Court ruling requiring the return of Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whom the White House erroneously claimed was a “convicted gang member,” the administration has ignored this directive. As reported by Common Dreams, a 19-year-old Venezuelan migrant was recently detained by ICE even though the agents recognized he was not the person they were seeking.
In another case brought by the ACLU, a 19-year-old identified as Y.S.M. was linked to a Venezuelan gang based on a Facebook photo showing him near another individual holding a gun. However, his attorney clarified during questioning that the item was merely a water pistol.
The ACLU stressed on Friday night that those the Trump administration attempted to deport “could be removed to face potential life sentences in El Salvador without a real chance to challenge their designation or removal.”
Early Saturday, Gelernt told The Washington Post, “We are relieved that the Supreme Court has stopped the administration from hastily deporting them as had been done to others just last month.”
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