In a dramatic late-night turn, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked Venezuelan deportations ordered by the Trump administration under a centuries-old wartime statute, momentarily freezing the removal of dozens of migrants accused of gang affiliations. The rare intervention, issued around 12:55 a.m. Saturday, came as a legal time bomb ticked beneath a divided nation.
With the clock winding down and buses already rumbling toward airstrips, the justices stepped in, issuing a brief unsigned stay that prevented further deportations of what the court called the “putative class of detainees.” The high-stakes emergency order was prompted by a plea from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which warned that many Venezuelan migrants faced imminent exile without the court-mandated judicial review.
“The Government is directed not to remove any member… until further order of this Court,” the ruling read.
Dissent from the Right
Conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented publicly, exposing deep ideological cracks in the Court’s view on executive power and immigration enforcement.
The Trump administration, undeterred, responded later Saturday with a legal salvo of its own. It urged the justices to lift the pause, accusing advocacy groups of abusing the courts to shield “terrorist aliens.”
“We are confident in the lawfulness of the Administration’s actions,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, adding that the administration was determined to “prevail against an onslaught of meritless litigation brought by radical activists.”
