Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Lift Deportation Halt

President Donald Trump’s administration asked the Supreme Court to roll back its decision to block the deportation of Venezuelans to a notorious prison in El Salvador, arguing that the early-morning order was overbroad and premature.

In 15-page filing, US Solicitor General D. John Sauer said the detainees’ lawyers were wrong to turn to the justices without giving lower courts time to rule on claims that the men weren’t given an adequate opportunity to contest their deportation in court.

“The lower courts have not found critical facts in this case,” said Sauer, the administration’s top Supreme Court lawyer. “There has been no fact-finding about the timing, nature, and manner of notice that the government has given” the detainees.

The high court intervened around 1 a.m. Saturday in Washington after detainees filed urgent requests in four courts to block their deportation from the Bluebonnet Detention Center in Anson, Texas. Lawyers for the men said they were being put on buses and told they would be deported as early as Friday afternoon. The detainees allegedly were given a notice, written only in English, that didn’t explain how they could contest their deportation or how much time they had to do so.

The Supreme Court order for now bars the government from using a wartime law to expel alleged Venezuelan gang members. The court said the pause applies “until further order of this court,” indicating the justices will take additional action now that the Trump administration has filed its response.

Read More: Supreme Court Blocks Deportation of Venezuelans From Texas (2)

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented, with Alito saying he will issue an opinion on the matter later.

The showdown marks a fresh escalation in Trump’s campaign to circumvent the federal judiciary. Last month, Trump sent more than 200 alleged gang members to the Salvadoran prison, even as a judge verbally ordered that two planes turn around.

The Supreme Court said April 7 that accused Tren de Aragua gang members must get a “reasonable time” to challenge their deportation in federal court. Many of the detainees say they aren’t gang members, and they contend Trump can’t deport them by invoking the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, a law that previously had been used only in wartime. The Supreme Court hasn’t resolved whether Trump’s use of that law is legal.

Sauer said the court at least should clarify that its order doesn’t preclude the government from deporting people using other legal tools, including the nation’s immigration laws.

The Supreme Court case is A.A.R.P. v. Trump, 24A1007.

--With assistance from David Voreacos.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Elizabeth Wasserman at ewasserman2@bloomberg.net

Wendy Benjaminson, Andrew Pollack

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