Supreme Court, for Now, Blocks Deportation of Migrants Under Wartime Law

More than 50 Venezuelans were believed to be scheduled to be flown out of the country, presumably to El Salvador, from an immigration detention center in Anson, Texas.

By Alan FeuerHamed Aleaziz and Abbie VanSickle

Published April 18, 2025Updated April 19, 2025, 2:51 a.m. ET

The Supreme Court temporarily blocked the Trump administration early Saturday from deporting another group of Venezuelan migrants accused of being gang members under the expansive powers of a rarely invoked wartime law.

“The government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this court,” the court said in a brief, unsigned order that gave no reasoning, as is typical in emergency cases.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. dissented. The White House did not issue any immediate response.

More than 50 Venezuelans were scheduled to be flown out of the country — presumably to El Salvador — from an immigration detention center in Anson, Texas, according to two people with knowledge of the situation. The A.C.L.U. in recent days had already secured court orders barring similar deportations under the law, the Alien Enemies Act, in other places including New York, Denver and Brownsville, Texas.
...snip...