The United States Supreme Court has rejected a request by the administration of Republican President Donald Trump to be allowed to quickly resume deportations of Venezuelans - under a wartime law dating back to the 18th century.
Of the nine justices, seven voted to dismiss the request, and the Supreme Court proceedings were conducted on an urgent request by lawyers for a group of Venezuelan men accused of being gang members, which, according to the Trump administration, qualifies them for immediate removal from the United States under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
The judges who supported the Trump administration's request are conservatives Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas.
The Supreme Court had previously temporarily halted deportations from a detention facility in North Texas, and that order was issued last month - in the middle of the night.
The Venezuelans' case is just one of several that have ended up in court after Trump in March declared the Tren de Aragua drug cartel a foreign terrorist organization and accordingly requested that its members be expelled from the US based on a 1798 law.
The Supreme Court focused on people's right to challenge their deportations, not on whether Trump's invocation of the 18th-century law was appropriate. It also made clear that it was not challenging the government's other means of deporting.
At least three federal judges have ruled that Trump has improperly invoked the law to expedite deportations of people his administration has labeled members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang. A Pennsylvania judge has, however, approved the law's application to such cases.
The federal judges' varied approach stems from another Supreme Court decision, which held that detainees who wish to challenge their deportations must do so from the place where they are being held, and must be given a "reasonable time" to file an objection.
However, the Supreme Court did not specify what "reasonable time" was, and rejected the use of the 12-hour deadline insisted on by the US government.
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