The appeals court rejected Trump’s request to maintain Judge James Boasberg’s order to block aliens’ deportation under the enemy laws.
The Supreme Court has granted a request for President Donald Trump to halt orders that would prevent his administration from using the Alien Enemy Law (AEA) to deport suspected members of Venezuelan gangs.
Judge Sonia Sotomayor wrote the objections, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. Judge Amy Connie Barrett has partially joined the Sotomayor opponents.
“The venue is inappropriate in the District of Columbia because detainers are trapped in Texas,” the Supreme Court opinion read. It added that individuals are entitled to the opportunity to challenge removal, but that the appropriate venue is a “confinement zone” or a place where the plaintiffs are trapped.
The court said, “AEA detainees must receive a notice after the date of this order that they will be removed under the law. Notices must provide a notice within a reasonable time, so that they can actually seek habeas and protection at the appropriate venue before such deletion occurs.”
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Sotomayor and Jackson raised another objection, but argued that the court was acting too quickly and that the issue should have been considered more carefully.
“The limits of that jurisdiction will be established, creating new laws in emergencies and addressing the serious threat that interventions pose to the lives of individual detainees,” writes Sotomayor.
The decision comes days after the Supreme Court granted its administration’s request to block a lower court order that halts plans to freeze education grants to compensate for concerns about diversity, equity and inclusion.
Citing Kagan’s objection in that case, Sotomayor said the court proceeded “in a rare time for naked bone explanation, no discussion, no reflection.”
“Activist judges in Washington, DC have no jurisdiction to take control of President Trump’s authority to implement foreign policy and keep Americans safe,” she said.
Regarding Truthsocial, Trump said:
“Amazing day for American justice!” he added to all caps.
The decision came after the administration of the first lawsuit and the plaintiff filed a duel brief with the judiciary.
Trump appealed Boasburg’s order to the U.S. Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia Circuit, turning it down last week to grant the relief.
