Supreme Court Enjoins Summary Removal of Alleged Tren de Aragua Members under Alien Enemies Act
This afternoon, the Supreme Court granted an application for an injunction against the federal government barring the summary removal of Venezuelan nationals alleged to be members of Tren de Aragua (TdA) under the Alien Enemies Act. By a 7-2 vote, the justices concluded that the detainees were entitled to greater process than they had been provided, and that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit erred in dismissing the detainee’s claims for lack of jurisdiction. The Court further treated the application for an injunction as a petition for certiorari, granted the petition, and remanded the case back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for further proceedings.
The opinion for the Court in A.A.R.P. v. Trump was per curiam (the fifth such opinion this term). Justice Alito dissented, joined by Justice Thomas, arguing that the Court lacked jurisdiction and, even assuming jurisdiction, the applicants failed to satisfy the requirements for injunctive relief. Justice Alito also objected to granting certiorari before judgment given the lack of lower court decisions on the merits.
Here’s how the opinion sets up the questions before the Court:
The President has invoked the Alien Enemies Act (AEA), Rev. Stat. §4067, 50 U. S. C. §21, to remove Venezuelan nationals who are members of Tren de Aragua (TdA), a designated foreign terrorist organization. See Presidential Proclamation No. 10903, 90 Fed. Reg. 13033 (2025). Applicants are two detainees identified as members of TdA and a putative class of similarly situated detainees in the Northern District of Texas. All of the alleged TdA members in the putative class are currently being held in U. S. detention facilities. In the application before the Court, the detainees seek injunctive relief against summary removal under the AEA.
In recounting the facts, the Court highlights how close it appears some of the applicants came to being deported without adequate process.
Article from Reason.com
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