US Supreme Court pauses deportation of Venezuelans under 1798 law

By AFP 19 April 2025, 9:48 am

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In this photo provided by El Salvador's presidential press office, prison guards transfer deportees from the US, alleged to be Venezuelan gang members, to the Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (El Salvador presidential press office via AP)

The US Supreme Court pauses the Trump administration’s deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members under an 18th-century law.

US President Donald Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA) last month to begin rounding up Venezuelan migrants accused of belonging to the Tren de Aragua gang before expelling them to a maximum security prison in El Salvador.

The obscure law has only previously been used during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II.

“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,” the Supreme Court’s brief order says.

The order came after rights lawyers filed an emergency appeal to halt the deportation of migrants currently held in a facility in the southern state of Texas.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in its emergency filing last night that the group of Venezuelans currently held in Texas had been told “they will be imminently removed under the AEA, as soon as tonight.”

Attorneys for several of the Venezuelans previously deported had said their clients were not members of Tren de Aragua, had committed no crimes and were targeted largely on the basis of their tattoos.