Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Reconsider Block on Venezuelan Deportations

The Trump administration has formally requested the Supreme Court to reconsider its recent decision to block the deportation of Venezuelans to El Salvador, arguing that the Court’s initial order was overly broad and premature, as per Bloomberg.

The administration’s request, delivered in a 15-page filing, contests the Supreme Court’s intervention to halt the deportations from the Bluebonnet Detention Center in Anson, Texas.

Solicitor General D. John Sauer, representing the administration, argued that the detainees’ legal representatives acted prematurely by appealing to the Supreme Court before allowing lower courts the opportunity to rule on claims of inadequate opportunity to contest their deportations.

The Supreme Court’s initial intervention came in response to urgent requests filed by detainees who alleged they were being deported with insufficient notice and inadequate information regarding their rights to contest the deportation. The detainees claimed they received notices written only in English, failing to explain how to challenge their deportation or the available timeframe.

The current Supreme Court order temporarily prohibits the government from utilizing a wartime law to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members. The order is in effect “until further order of this court,” indicating that the justices will deliberate further following the Trump administration’s response.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented from the initial order, with Alito planning to issue a subsequent opinion on the matter.

The legal battle marks an escalation in the Trump administration’s efforts to navigate the federal judiciary on immigration matters. In the previous month, the administration deported over 200 alleged gang members to an El Salvadoran prison, even amid a judge’s verbal order to halt two planes.

On April 7, the Supreme Court ruled that accused members of the Tren de Aragua gang must be granted a “reasonable time” to challenge their deportations in federal court. Many detainees assert they are not gang members, arguing against the administration’s invocation of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, a law historically used only during wartime. The Supreme Court has yet to definitively rule on the legality of Trump’s use of the law.