Trump appeals deportation case to Supreme Court
The Trump administration made an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court hear its case for using the Alien Enemies Act to deport members of a Venezuelan gang, CNN reported.
The alleged members were sent to an El Salvador prison.
The administration is asking the high court to reverse an order from U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, of the District of Columbia, blocking further deportations under the act.
“This case presents fundamental questions about who decides how to conduct sensitive national-security-related operations in this country—the President, through Article II, or the Judiciary, through TROs. The Constitution supplies a clear answer: the President,” Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris wrote, according to NBC News. “The republic cannot afford a different choice.”
A federal appeals court, in a 2-1 ruling, denied the Trump administration’s request to lift a temporary restraining order by Boasberg.
Boasberg, an appointee of President Barack Obama, issued a restraining order against Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1789 to deport illegal immigrants believed to be part of Tren de Aragua.
However, the alleged gang members were already in international air space when the judge issued his written ruling, on the way to detention in El Salvador.
Tren de Aragua is a Venezuelan gang, which the Trump administration designated as a terrorist organization. The 1798 Alien Enemies Act allows a president to fast-track the removals under national security concerns.
Trump has called for Boasberg to be impeached.
[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]