MORE: SCOTUS ruling came as 5th Circuit dismissed an emergency effort to block deportations under the Alien Enemies Act.

[In It to Win It]

MORE: The high court’s ruling came just as a conservative panel of the 5th circuit court of appeals dismissed an emergence effort to broadly block the administration from conducting summary deportations under the Alien Enemies Act.

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney.bsky.social) 2025-04-19T06:05:06.463Z

Kyle Cheney
‪@kyledcheney.bsky.social‬

MORE: The high court’s ruling came just as a conservative panel of the 5th circuit court of appeals dismissed an emergence effort to broadly block the administration from conducting summary deportations under the Alien Enemies Act.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. I am glad that SCOTUS did not wait for the f#&king 5th Circuit

[Dennis Donovan]

2. Lee Gelernt: "These men were in imminent danger of spending their lives in a horrific foreign prison"

Kyle Griffin
‪@kylegriffin1.bsky.social‬
ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt:

"These men were in imminent danger of spending their lives in a horrific foreign prison without ever having had a chance to go to court. We are relieved that the Supreme Court has not permitted the administration to whisk them away the way others were just last month."

‪Kyle Griffin‬ ‪
@kylegriffin1.bsky.social‬
2h
NEW: The Supreme Court has temporarily blocked the Trump admin from deporting a group of Venezuelans under the Alien Enemies Act.

"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."

April 19, 2025 at 7:40 AM

ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt:
 
"These men were in imminent danger of spending their lives in a horrific foreign prison without ever having had a chance to go to court. We are relieved that the Supreme Court has not permitted the administration to whisk them away the way others were just last month."

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1.bsky.social) 2025-04-19T11:40:55.311Z

[Dennis Donovan]

4. ACLU - We'll keep fighting to defend due process.

ACLU
‪@aclu.org‬
BREAKING: Early this morning in a 7-2 ruling, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked the deportation of any Venezuelan men held in the Bluebonnet Detention Center in northern Texas under the Alien Enemies Act.

We'll keep fighting to defend due process.
April 19, 2025 at 8:39 AM

BREAKING: Early this morning in a 7-2 ruling, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked the deportation of any Venezuelan men held in the Bluebonnet Detention Center in northern Texas under the Alien Enemies Act.

We'll keep fighting to defend due process.

— ACLU (@aclu.org) 2025-04-19T12:39:23.370Z

[Arazi]

3. Shines a spotlight on how freakish the 5th Circuit actually is

They’re utterly out of step with legal norms.

Seeing the stark difference amplified within an hour between this clashing opinion and this very conservative, committed-to-unitary-power SCOTUS opinion is… phew 😬

[Ms. Toad]

6. They actually aren't. And the opinion does not clash with the Supreme Court opinion.

If a court issues an order without jurisdiction, as Judge Boasberg did in the original case, the ruling has no legal effect.

From a legal perspective, the 5th circuit opinion is completely accurate.

The trial court ruled, based on the evidence in front of it. It invited the ACLU to return if there was evidence of the need for emergency injunctive relief. Unfortunately, there wasn't time to go through the trial court again after it gathered the evidence for the urgent need. The 5th Circuit is, as it stated, an appellate court. It has no jurisdiction to take the case back up based on new evidence before the trial court had the chance to review it.

The Supreme Court's jurisdiction is broader, with some ability to act in emergency situations. That's why there is no conflict.

Would the 5th Circuit have granted the injunction, had the trial court had time to review it in light of the new evidence of the emergency? Who knows. They might have - and THEN - they would have been outside of legal norms.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

5. 'Basically never happens': Legal expert singles out Alito slight in overnight Trump ruling

This made me laugh. When there is a dissent in ruling like this, the majority normally waits until the dissent is drafted and publishes the dissent with the opinion. Here the 7 justice majority did not wait for Alito's dissent. SCOTUS is tried of trump and did not wait for Alito's dissent

'Basically never happens': Legal expert singles out Alito slight in overnight Trump ruling https://twp.ai/4ile7v

— #TuckFrump (@realtuckfrumper.bsky.social) 2025-04-19T18:32:35.000Z

Link to tweet

https://www.rawstory.com/alito-dissent/

In a series of posts on BlueSky, Slate legal analyst Mark Joseph Stern suggested the majority of justices on the Supreme Court appear to be angry with Donald Trump's administration's attempt to swiftly deport more immigrants in Texas while there are still questions about its legality.

Noting that seven of the nine justices on the conservative-majority court stepped in to stop the Alien Enemies Act rendition flight with an order issued at 1:30 AM, Stern pointed out that Justices Sam Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented but were not given time to publish their reasoning.

As he wrote on BlueSky, "Obviously, a huge victory for the migrants here and a major defeat for Trump’s lawless effort to rush out a rendition flight before the courts could act. But also—potentially a massive signal from the Supreme Court that it is finally prepared to go toe to toe with Trump to halt AEA deportations.".....

In particular, he noted Alito would be publishing his dissent at a later time after that the rest of the court, led by Chief Justice John Roberts, rushed out their ruling without waiting for him.

"It is SO unusual for the Supreme Court to issue an order this late at night and honestly incredible only Thomas and Alito noted their dissents," he wrote before adding, "Also fascinating that SCOTUS rushed out the order before Alito could finish writing his dissent. That basically never happens! Again—majority seems pissed."

Has Alito's dissent come out yet?

[LetMyPeopleVote]

7. As legal fight raged, ICE buses filled with Venezuelans heading toward airport turned around, video shows

The trump DOJ was in the process of deporting a good number of detainees without giving them any real due process. The order from SCOTUS stopped a good number of detainees from being deported.

As legal fight raged, ICE buses filled with Venezuelans heading toward airport turned around, video shows

At least 28 detainees were placed on buses Friday evening at ICE’s Bluebonnet Detention Center in Anson, Texas, and then driven toward an airport.

www.nbcnews.com/politics/imm...

— Lauren Ashley Davis (@laurenmeidasa.bsky.social) 2025-04-20T12:53:22.061Z

Link to tweet

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/legal-fight-raged-ice-buses-filled-venezuelans-heading-airport-turned-rcna202007

Video from Friday night shows Immigration and Customs Enforcement buses full of Venezuelan migrants headed toward an airport in North Texas before abruptly turning around before the Supreme Court ruled the Trump administration must, for now, refrain from deporting Venezuelan men based in the state under the Alien Enemies Act.

At least 28 detainees — most, if not all, understood to be Venezuelan nationals — were placed on buses Friday evening at ICE’s Bluebonnet Detention Center in Anson, Texas, and then driven toward Abilene Airport about 30 miles away.

The motorcade — including at least 18 squad cars from various law enforcement agencies with flashing lights along the north Texas highways — left the ICE facility, with some men on board being told they were being deported to El Salvador and some told they were headed to Venezuela, according to the wife of one of the detainees and two lawyers representing other detainees at the facility. Prior to their departure, it was not clear what their destinations would be.

The video, obtained exclusively by NBC News, shows the ICE motorcade pass the airport’s exit and then turn around, looping back to return to the Bluebonnet detention facility.

The Trump administration is seeking to deport the men, who it says are members of the Tren de Aragua gang. It remains unclear whether the government has the authority to apply the Alien Enemies Act to gang members outside of a war situation, and whether adjudications about gang membership are accurate.

The administration has asked the Supreme Court to stop its pause on these would-be deportation flights.