What to know about the Alien Enemies Act of 1798
President Trump wants to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. Here’s what you need to know about the wartime law.
A temporary restraining order blocking the Trump administration from deporting migrants to a notorious Salvadoran mega-prison under an obscure 18th-century law was tossed out by the Supreme court Monday – but that doesn’t mean the Supreme Court was actually rubber-stamping the deportations.
In mid-March, Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to expedite deportations. The administration zeroed in migrants alleging they were criminals or members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang the administration labeled a terrorist organization.
Last month, officials placed the first of more than 200 Venezuelan migrants in El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, also known as CECOT. The prison has been criticized by human rights observers for its harsh and dangerous conditions, as well as its treatment of people held in custody without due process.
Family members and advocates of the expelled Venezuelan migrants have said the evidence of their alleged ties to gangs is scant, as USA TODAY reported, focusing on tattoos of images such as crowns. The Supreme Court didn’t rule on whether the evidence in the government’s possession was enough to justify the deportations.
Administration officials celebrated the ruling.
“THE FOREIGN TERRORISTS WILL BE ARRESTED AND EXPELLED,” White House deputy Chief of Staff for policy Stephen Miller said on a post on X.
But a lawyer at the ACLU, which represented several men who were challenging the administration’s activity, also argued the men had won an “important victory.” Here’s what to know about the ruling:
What did the Supreme Court decide?
The Supreme Court tossed out a D.C. federal judge’s temporary restraining order that had blocked the Trump administration from using the Alien Enemies Act to remove any more noncitizens who are in U.S. custody. However, the Supreme Court didn’t rule out the possibility that it will ultimately decide against the Trump administration.
Instead, five of the six Republican-appointed justices, all except Trump-appointed Justice Amy Coney Barrett, ruled that the five men behind the lawsuit should have brought their legal challenges through a different type of lawsuit based on where they are being held, in Texas.
The court’s majority specifically said in its ruling that detainees being held under the Alien Enemies Act “are entitled to notice and an opportunity to challenge their removal.” The notice those detainees get “must be afforded within a reasonable time and in such a manner as will allow them to actually seek” court protection “before such removal occurs,” according to the majority.
Trump portrays SCOTUS decision as big win – but was it?
Soon after the ruling, Trump took to Truth Social to hail it as a great victory.
“The Supreme Court has upheld the Rule of Law in our Nation by allowing a President, whoever that may be, to be able to secure our Borders, and protect our families and our Country, itself,” the president posted. “A GREAT DAY FOR JUSTICE IN AMERICA!”
But the Supreme Court made clear it wasn’t delivering the president such a massive victory.
In fact, the high court rebuffed the idea that the Trump administration could use the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members without giving them advance notice and a reasonable amount of time to challenge the deportation.
And the court also left a lot unsaid. Is the president allowed to invoke the Alien Enemies Act, which has traditionally been used during wartime, in non-wartime to deport alleged members of a Venezuelan gang? Can the Trump administration be forced to bring back alleged gang members who were deported to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act? The justices left those questions for a later day.
What happens to men held in El Salvador?
Hundreds of Venezuelan migrants will remain in CECOT for now. Under the Supreme Court ruling, federal immigration officials can now send more migrants to CECOT, which can house up to 40,000 people.
Federal officials have said the U.S. paid the Salvadoran government $6 million to house the migrants. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has said the U.S. will play little to house them for one year that is “renewable.”
Kristi Noem, Homeland Security secretary, visited the facility in late March after officials flew the first migrants to El Salvador and placed them in the prison. CECOT doesn’t allow visitations or outdoor recreation. It’s located at the base of a volcano in a rural region southeast of the capital San Salvador.
The family of a 29-year-old Salvadoran migrant currently held in CECOT due to an “administrative error” has an ongoing Supreme Court case for his release. Federal immigration agents placed Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father living in the U.S. for over a decade, in CECOT on March 15, the same day Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act.
The Trump administration says it has no control to return Abrego Garcia, though Xinis cited comments by U.S. officials and Bukele about the agreement made between the two governments.
Officials have accused Abrego Garcia of ties to the MS-13 gang, a violent Salvadoran gang with origins in the U.S., though his family has denied this. Xinis said the administration has not presented evidence of these accusations.
After his family won rulings for his return to U.S. soil by Monday, the Trump administration petitioned the Supreme Court to intervene. On Monday, Chief Justice John Roberts put a temporarily hold on Xinis’ order as they review the case.
It’s unclear how many people, if any, have been released from CECOT.