A person walks past the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 21, 2025.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
The Supreme Court on Friday granted a request by Venezuelan nationals seeking an injunction against their removal from the United States under the Alien Enemies Act.
In a 7-2 decision, the court said the Trump administration had not given the detainees enough time or adequate resources to challenge their deportations.
“Under these circumstances, notice roughly 24 hours before removal, devoid of information about how to exercise due process rights to contest that removal, surely does not pass muster,” the ruling said.
The justices barred the removal of the men, who the Trump administration alleges are members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, pending a new decision from a lower federal appellate court.
They acknowledged that the Venezuelans’ interests are “particularly weighty,” noting that the government is currently arguing that it cannot “provide for the return” of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, “an individual deported in error to a prison in El Salvador.”
The court did not rule on whether the Alien Enemies Act, which the Trump administration invoked in mid-April to deport the detainees, had been applied correctly.
“To be clear, we decide today only that the detainees are entitled to more notice than was given on April 18,” their ruling said.
The justices noted they were granting only temporary relief while the case returns to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit sorts out the question of how much notice is due to those being targeted for removal.
Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented from the opinion.
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