The government of President Donald Trump requested permission from the Supreme Court on Friday to resume deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador under an 18th-century wartime law, while a legal battle continues.
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The emergency appeal is filed after the federal appeals court in Washington rejected the Republican government’s request. By a 2-1 vote, a panel of appeals judges upheld an order temporarily banning deportations of migrants under the rarely used Foreign Enemy Act.
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The Department of Justice argued in court documents that federal courts should not interfere with delicate diplomatic negotiations. It also stated that migrants should present their case in a federal court in Texas, where they are detained.
The order temporarily blocking deportations was issued by Federal District Judge in the Washington court James E. Boasberg.
Why does Trump want to deport immigrants to El Salvador?
Trump invoked the Foreign Enemies Act for the first time since World War II to justify the deportation of hundreds of people under a presidential proclamation that labels the Tren de Aragua gang as “an invading force of the United States.”
“Here, district court orders have rejected the president’s judgments on how to protect the nation against foreign terrorist organizations and run the risk of debilitating effects on delicate foreign negotiations,” wrote Acting Attorney General Sarah Harris in the court document.
Lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed the lawsuit on behalf of five Venezuelan citizens who were detained in Texas, just hours after the proclamation was made public.
The court set a deadline until Tuesday for a response from the ACLU.
“We will urge the Supreme Court to preserve the status quo to give the courts time to hear this case, so that more people are not sent to a notorious foreign prison without any due process, based on an unprecedented and illegal use of wartime authority,” said Lee Gelernt, the lead attorney representing the migrants.
The case has become a flashpoint amid the growing tension between the White House and the federal courts.
Boasberg imposed a temporary suspension of deportations and ordered planes filled with Venezuelan immigrants to return to the United States. That did not happen. Since then, the judge has promised to determine whether the government defied his order to turn the planes around.
The deported Venezuelans were admitted to the high-security prison CECOT that was built by Nayib Bukele in El Salvador.
The government has invoked a “state secrets privilege” and has refused to provide Boasberg with additional information about the deportations.
Trump and his allies have called for Boasberg’s removal. In a rare statement, Supreme Court President John Roberts, a Republican ally, said that “removal is not an appropriate response to a disagreement over a judicial decision.”
The Foreign Enemies Act allows non-citizens to be deported without the opportunity for a hearing before an immigration judge or a federal judge.
Boasberg ruled that immigrants facing deportation must have the opportunity to challenge their designations as alleged gang members. His ruling establishes that there is “a strong public interest in preventing the wrongful deportation of individuals based on categories that they are unable to challenge.”.
The temporary suspension of deportations that Boasberg imposed is scheduled to expire on Saturday, but the ACLU has requested an extension until April 12 and plans to seek a longer pause in deportations under the Foreign Enemies Act, known as a preliminary injunction, while the lawsuit continues.