Over the weekend, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an injunction ordering the Trump administration to halt the deportation of a group of alleged Venezuelan gang members.
The emergency ruling temporarily prevented the deportation of Venezuelan migrants from the Bluebonnet Detention Center in Texas under the Alien Enemies Act. President Trump invoked the use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act last month, which granted him the ability to detain or deport foreigners in times of war.
Criminal justice attorney Robert McWhirter says the case should focus on whether the Venezuelans receive due process, not on whether they can be deported.
"The question is they are obviously deporting people that should not be deported, providing no opportunity and to top it all off, the administration is not giving any specific information to show that they have the proof who is or is not a gang member,” McWhirter said.
The justices’ order directed the administration not to remove Venezuelans held in the detention center “until further order of this court."
“What they're doing is saying, 'hey, just put everything on hold,'” McWhirter said. “You can't send people out of the country without some kind of process and an opportunity for them to be heard and certain claims to relief from deportations or claims to political asylum or withholding or whatnot.”
