US Supreme Court blocks Trump's use of 18th century law to deport people
LAST UPDATE
|
21 mins ago
THE US SUPREME Court has rejected the Trump administration's appeal to quickly resume deportations of Venezuelans under an 18th century wartime law.
The justices heard an emergency appeal from lawyers for Venezuelan men accused of being gang members, a designation that the administration says makes them eligible for rapid removal from the United States under the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) of 1798.
The court had already called a temporary halt to the deportations from a north Texas detention facility in a middle-of-the-night order issued last month.
Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, two of the most conservative members of the court, dissented.
Responding with a post on his Truth Social platform, President Donald Trump said:
'THE SUPREME COURT WON'T ALLOW US TO GET CRIMINALS OUT OF OUR COUNTRY!'
The case is among several making their way through the courts over Trump's proclamation in March calling the Tren de Aragua gang a foreign terrorist organisation and invoking the 1798 law to deport people.
Advertisement
The case centres on the opportunity people must have to contest their removal from the United States, without determining whether Trump's invocation of the law was appropriate.
'We recognise the significance of the Government's national security interests as well as the necessity that such interests be pursued in a manner consistent with the Constitution,' the justices said in an unsigned opinion.
At least three federal judges have said Trump was improperly using the AEA to speed up deportations of people the administration says are Venezuelan gang members.
On Tuesday, a judge in Pennsylvania signed off on the use of the law.
The court-by-court approach to deportations under the AEA flows from another Supreme Court order that took a case away from a judge in Washington DC, and ruled detainees seeking to challenge their deportations must do so where they are held.
The justices said in April that people must be given 'reasonable time' to file a challenge.
The court has rejected the 12 hours the administration has said would be sufficient but has not otherwise spelled out how long it meant.
District Judge Stephanie Haines ordered immigration officials to give people 21 days in her opinion in which she said deportations could legally take place under the AEA.
The Supreme Court also made clear today that it was not blocking other ways the government may deport people.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTÉ News
6 hours ago
- RTÉ News
US strikes set back Iran nuclear programme by months
US airstrikes did not destroy Iran's nuclear capability and only set it back by a few months, according to one initial US intelligence assessment, as a shaky ceasefire brokered by President Donald Trump took hold between Iran and Israel. The preliminary assessment by the US Defense Intelligence Agency was disclosed to Reuters by three sources familiar with the matter. One of the sources said Iran's enriched uranium stocks had not been eliminated, and in fact, the country's nuclear program may have been set back only a month or two. The assessment contradicted Mr Trump's assertion that the weekend strikes had succeeded in destroying Tehran's nuclear program and raised questions about further US military action if indeed the program survived the intense aerial bombardment. The White House said the intelligence report was "flat out wrong." Mr Trump's administration told the UN Security Council that its weekend strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities had "degraded" Iran's nuclear program, short of Mr Trump's earlier assertion that the facilities had been "obliterated". Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel in its 12 days of war with Iran had removed the threat of nuclear annihilation and was determined to thwart any attempt by Tehran to revive its programme. "We have removed two immediate existential threats to us - the threat of nuclear annihilation and the threat of annihilation by 20,000 ballistic missiles," he said in video remarks issued by his office. Israel launched the surprise air war on 13 June, hitting Iranian nuclear sites where it said Iran was trying to develop an atomic bomb and killing top military commanders in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1980s war with Iraq. Iran, which says its uranium enrichment programme is for peaceful purposes and denies trying to build nuclear weapons, retaliated with a series of missile barrages on Israeli cities. Earlier today, both Iran and Israel signalled that the air war between the two nations had concluded, at least for now, after Mr Trump scolded them for violating a ceasefire he announced. Iranian preisdent hails 'great victory' Israel's military lifted restrictions on activity across the country at 8pm local time (6pm Irish time), and officials said Ben Gurion Airport, the country's main airport near Tel Aviv, had reopened. Iran's airspace likewise will be reopened, state-affiliated Nour news reported. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country had successfully ended the war in what he called a "great victory," according to Iranian media. Mr Pezeshkian also told Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that Tehran was ready to resolve differences with the United States, according to official news agency IRNA. A senior White House official said Mr Trump brokered the ceasefire deal with Mr Netanyahu, and other administration officials were in touch with the Iranians. Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani secured Tehran's agreement during a call with Iranian officials, an official briefed on the negotiations said. Both Israel and Iran took hours to acknowledge they had accepted the ceasefire and accused each other of violating it, underscoring the fragility of the truce between the two bitter foes and the challenge of achieving lasting peace between them. Mr Trump scolded both sides but aimed especially stinging criticism at Israel, telling the close US ally to "calm down now." He later said Israel called off further attacks at his command. Israel's defence minister, Israel Katz, said he told his US counterpart, Pete Hegseth, that his country would respect the ceasefire unless Iran violated it. Mr Pezeshkian likewise said Iran would honour the ceasefire as long as Israel did, according to Iranian media. Whether the Israel-Iran truce can hold is a major question given the deep mistrust between the two nations. But Mr Trump's ability to broker a ceasefire showed Washington retains some leverage in the volatile region. Israeli Armed Forces Chief of staff Eyal Zamir said a "significant chapter" of the conflict had concluded but the campaign against Iran was not over. He said the military would refocus on its war against Iran-backed Hamas militants in Gaza. Iran's military command also warned Israel and the United States to learn from the "crushing blows" it delivered during the conflict. Iranian authorities said 610 people were killed in their country by Israeli strikes and 4,746 injured. Iran's retaliatory bombardment killed 28 people in Israel, the first time its air defences were penetrated by large numbers of Iranian missiles. Oil prices plunged, and stock markets rallied worldwide in a sign of confidence inspired by the ceasefire, which allayed fears of disruption to critical oil supplies from the Gulf. Ceasefire violations? Earlier in the day, Mr Trump admonished Israel with an obscenity in an extraordinary outburst at an ally whose air war he had joined two days before by dropping massive bunker-buster bombs on Iran's underground nuclear sites. Before departing the White House en route to a NATO summit in Europe, Mr Trump told reporters he was unhappy with both sides for the ceasefire breach but particularly frustrated with Israel, which he said had "unloaded" shortly after agreeing to the deal. "I've got to get Israel to calm down now," Mr Trump said. Iran and Israel had been fighting "so long and so hard that they don't know what the f**k they're doing." Mr Netanyahu's office acknowledged Israel bombed a radar site near Tehran in what it said was retaliation for Iranian missiles fired three-and-a-half hours after the ceasefire was due to begin. It did not explicitly say whether the strike on the radar site took place before or after they spoke. The Islamic Republic denied launching any missiles and said Israel's attacks had continued for an hour-and-a-half beyond the time the truce was meant to start. In both countries, there was a palpable sense of relief. "Who mediated or how it happened doesn't matter. The war is over. It never should have started in the first place," said Reza Sharifi, 38, heading back to Tehran from Rasht on the Caspian Sea, where he had fled with his family.
Irish Examiner
6 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Pentagon report says US strikes on Iran nuclear sites only set back programme months
A new US intelligence report found that Iran's nuclear programme has been set back only a few months after a US strike, and was not 'completely and fully obliterated' as President Donald Trump has said. The early intelligence report issued by the Defence Intelligence Agency on Monday contradicts statements from Mr Trump and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the status of Iran's nuclear facilities. According to people familiar with the situation, the report found that while the Saturday strikes at the Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites did significant damage, they were not totally destroyed. The White House strongly pushed back on the assessment, calling it 'flat-out wrong'. 'The leaking of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump, and discredit the brave fighter pilots who conducted a perfectly executed mission to obliterate Iran's nuclear programme,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. 'Everyone knows what happens when you drop 14 30,000 pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration.' The CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment on the DIA assessment. ODNI coordinates the work of the nation's 18 intelligence agencies, including the DIA, which is the intelligence arm of the Defence Department, responsible for producing intelligence on foreign militaries and the capabilities of adversaries. The intelligence assessment was first reported by CNN on Tuesday. Read More Trump claims Israel-Iran ceasefire he brokered is 'in effect' despite initial violations
RTÉ News
10 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Iran-Israel war: latest developments
Israel and Iran said they had agreed to US President Donald Trump's proposal for a ceasefire, on the 12th day of war between the foes. Here are the latest developments: Israel, Iran agree to ceasefire The Israeli government said it had achieved all its objectives in the war with Iran, and that it had agreed to the US-proposed ceasefire after removing the "dual existential threat" of Tehran's nuclear programme and ballistic missiles. Israel nonetheless warned it would "respond forcefully" to any Iranian violation, with its military later saying it had been ordered "to maintain a high level of alertness". Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran would respect the ceasefire, provided Israel held to its terms. "If the Zionist regime does not violate the ceasefire, Iran will not violate it either," Mr Pezeshkian said during a phone conversation with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, according to the presidency's website. Iran's top security body previously said the Islamic republic's forces had "compelled" Israel to "unilaterally" stand down. Final salvos Israel "refrained" from further strikes on Iran today after a call between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the premier's office announced, though it did destroy a radar installation. Mr Trump had accused both Iran and Israel of violating the ceasefire he announced late yesterday, but hours later, he posted that it was now in effect. "Following President Trump's conversation with Prime Minister Netanyahu, Israel refrained from further strikes," a statement said. Iran's state media said today that a wave of missiles was headed towards Israel around the time the ceasefire was expected to take hold. Israeli emergency services later said four people were killed and two moderately wounded in a missile strike in southern Beersheba. At least 50 impacts have been acknowledged across Israel since the war began, and 28 people have been killed, according to official figures. Iranian media said an overnight Israeli strike on the north of the country killed nine people just before Mr Trump's ceasefire announcement. It also reported that an overnight strike killed nuclear scientist Mohammad Reza Seddighi Saber, who was under US sanctions. Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 610 civilians, Iran's health ministry said. No 'regime change' En route to a NATO summit in the Netherlands, Mr Trump rejected the idea of "regime change" in Iran. "If there was, there was, but no I don't want it. I'd like to see everything calm down as quickly as possible," Mr Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. "Regime change takes chaos, and ideally we don't want to see so much chaos." The US President had previously toyed with the idea on social media, while Mr Netanyahu had called on the Iranian people to overthrow their leaders. International relief After mounting fears of regional spillover from the war between Israel and Iran, the international community appeared to breathe a sigh of relief at news of the truce. "If a ceasefire has indeed been achieved, this can only be welcomed," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding that Russia hoped "that this will be a sustainable ceasefire". French President Emmanuel Macron said it was a "very good thing that President Trump is calling for a ceasefire", but warned that "the situation remains very fragile". German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged both sides to adhere to Mr Trump's proposal, adding that if the deal succeeded, "then it will be a very positive development that can make the Middle East and the world safer". Saudi Arabia also welcomed the truce announcement, while China said it supported a "genuine ceasefire". Meanwhile, stock markets rose, and oil prices dropped in response to the announcement, as well as a statement from Mr Trump that China could continue to purchase Iranian oil.
