Alito Dissents as Supreme Court Halts Trump's Alien Enemies Act Deportations

The Supreme Court has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from using the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) to deport Venezuelan migrants held in a Texas detention center, prompting a sharp dissent from Justice Samuel Alito. In his statement, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, Alito criticized the court majority for issuing what he called "hastily and prematurely granted unprecedented emergency relief" without hearing from the government or providing explanation for the midnight order. The emergency action came in response to an American Civil Liberties Union petition after multiple lower courts had declined to intervene.

President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 last month against the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, declaring an invasion and authorizing expedited deportations of migrants from countries the U.S. is at declared war with or that are attempting an invasion. The administration had already deported a group of Venezuelan nationals to El Salvador following this declaration. The ACLU alleged in court filings that migrants at the Bluebonnet Detention Center in Anson, Texas, had been notified they were subject to the act, with deportations potentially beginning immediately.