Over the weekend, President Donald Trump slammed the Supreme Court for blocking his administration’s efforts to deport Venezuelan migrants under an 18th-century wartime authority. He called the ruling “a bad and dangerous day for America,” and shared a Truth Social post calling it a “illegal injunction.”
“The Supreme Court of the United States is not allowing me to do what I was elected to do,” Trump blasted on his Truth Social page on Friday evening.
The post follows a 7-2 decision from the high court that temporarily halts Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which was last invoked during World War II to detain and incarcerate Japanese Americans living in the US.
The act is now being used by Homeland Security to deport people accused of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang with little or no due process. The Trump administration designated the Venezuelan gang as a foreign terrorist organization earlier this year, paving the way for the AEA’s involvement.
“The Supreme Court has just ruled that the worst murderers, drug dealers, gang members, and even those who are mentally insane, who came into our Country illegally, are not allowed to be forced out without going through a long, protracted, and expensive Legal Process, one that will take, possibly, many years for each person, and one that will allow these people to commit many crimes before they even see the inside of a Courthouse,” tweeted President Trump on Friday.
“The result of this decision will let more CRIMINALS pour into our Country, doing great harm to our cherished American public,” according to him. “It will also encourage other criminals to illegally enter our Country, wreaking havoc and bedlam wherever they go.”
On Saturday, Trump shared a post from ally and lawyer Mike Davis, condemning the Supreme Court order as a “illegal injunction” on the president. Davis claims it prevents him from commanding military operations to expel foreign terrorists.
“The President should house these terrorists near the Chevy Chase Country Club, with daytime release,” Davis suggested.
Justices John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh reportedly live in Chevy Chase, Maryland, where the country club is located. Both were reportedly members of the club in 2018.
While the ruling is a setback for Trump’s immigration strategy, it does not address whether his proclamation citing the AEA was constitutional. Instead, it effectively extends the temporary injunction issued by the Supreme Court on April 19 for AEA removals in the Northern District of Texas.
The majority, including Roberts and Kavanaugh, remanded the case to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. They directed lower courts to address the constitutionality and other AEA cases “expeditiously.”
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented on the April 19 order.
“From the Court’s order, it is unclear whether the Court has silently decided issues other than the question of interim relief. (I sincerely hope it has not.) But if it has done so, today’s order is even more extraordinary,” Alito wrote in a 14-page dissent.
He offered three justifications: the Supreme Court “lacked jurisdiction,” the plaintiffs did not demonstrate that an injunction was warranted, and the decision to hear the case before a decision on the merits by lower courts is “unwarranted.”
Trump thanked Alito and Thomas “for attempting to protect our Country” by dissenting in a Truth Social post on Friday.
“This is a bad and dangerous day for America!” he declared.