The U.S. Supreme Court has ordered the Trump administration to pause the deportation of a group of detained Venezuelan nationals, citing due process concerns related to their treatment under the rarely used 1798 Alien Enemies Act. The detainees, allegedly linked to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, are being held in north Texas and were slated for deportation to El Salvador's high-security Cecot prison. The deportations, ordered without judicial hearings, sparked a legal challenge by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which argued that the men were denied the right to contest their removal in court. The Alien Enemies Act, a wartime statute last invoked during World War II, grants the U.S. president sweeping authority to detain and deport individuals from countries deemed hostile. President Donald Trump cited the law in March to expedite the removal of accused gang members from Venezuela, a country he has labeled as a national security threat. A senior administration official told CBS News that of the 261 Venezuelans deported as of April 8, 137 were removed under the provisions of the Alien Enemies Act. Trump accused Tren de Aragua of conducting "invasion and predatory incursions" on U.S. soil and vowed to purge the country of foreign gangs during his second inaugural address in January. A lower court had temporarily blocked the deportations on March 15, but the Supreme Court initially ruled on April 8 that the government could use the 1798 law — provided detainees were given the opportunity to contest their removal. The latest decision on Saturday reinforced that condition, halting further deportations until the detainees can properly challenge their cases. According to the ACLU lawsuit, many of the detained men received deportation notices in English despite not being proficient in the language. One individual reportedly received no notification at all, and none were informed of their right to seek judicial review. "Without this Court's intervention, dozens or hundreds of proposed class members may be removed to a possible life sentence in El Salvador with no real opportunity to contest their designation or removal," the lawsuit warned. Among the deportees is Kilmar Ábrego García, a Salvadoran national who was mistakenly deported and accused by the administration of being a member of the MS-13 gang — a claim denied by his lawyer and family. He has no criminal convictions. While the Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. government must facilitate his return, the Trump administration has said he will "never" be allowed to live in the U.S. again. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), who visited Ábrego García in El Salvador, said he had been moved from Cecot to another prison facility. — Agencies
