Trump administration asks Supreme Court to review El Salvador deportation flight case
The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Friday to review a restraining order that temporarily blocks its use of am 18th century wartime immigration law to immediately deport Venezuelan nationals, including alleged members of the gang Tren de Aragua, from U.S. soil.
The appeal comes shortly after the DC. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 Wednesday to uphold a lower court's decision to temporarily block the administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act for a 14-day period, to allow the judge time to review the merits of the case.
The Trump administration had vowed to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court if the three-judge panel in D.C. further blocked them from using the 1798 wartime law to carry out its deportation agenda.
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In the filing, U.S. Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris told the Supreme Court that the lower court's "flawed" orders "threaten the government's sensitive negotiations with foreign powers," and risk "serious and perhaps irreparable harm if not immediately reviewed" by the high court.
At minimum, the Trump administration said, the Supreme Court should grant an administrative stay to allow them to continue using the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan nationals while the court considers the government's orders.
They also sharply criticized the appeals court's decision handed down Wednesday.
Writing for the 2-1 majority in the appeals court decision, U.S. Circuit Court Judges Karen Henderson, a Bush appointee, and Patricia Millett, an Obama appointee, focused heavily on concerns of due process violations, as well as complaints of immediate and irreparable harm cited by the plaintiffs.
Allowing Trump to use the law in the near-term "risks exiling plaintiffs to a land that is not their country of origin," Henderson said in a concurring opinion siding with the lower court judge.
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"The equities favor the plaintiffs," Henderson said. "And the district court entered the TROs for a quintessentially valid purpose: to protect its remedial authority long enough to consider the parties’ arguments.
Millett, for her part, said that siding with the Trump administration would moot the Plaintiffs’ claims by immediately removing them beyond the reach of their lawyers or the court."
The Trump administration continued to rail against the court ruling, which White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt described to Fox News on Wednesday as an "unauthorized infringement" on the president's authority.
The administration "will act swiftly to seek Supreme Court review to vindicate the president’s authority, defend the Constitution, and Make America Safe Again," Leavitt added.
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