Whoa, okay, here we go. Buckle up, it’s about to get real. Picture this: it’s the early hours on some random Saturday morning, and the US Supreme Court drops this bombshell—temporarily halts Trump from dusting off this super old law from the 1700s. Yeah, seriously, most people didn’t even know it was a thing. Anyway, he wanted to use it to deport a bunch of Venezuelan folks, might I add.
So this ancient law, the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, hasn’t been given a whirl since WWII when they threw it at Italian, German, and Japanese peeps. Wild, right? But now, they’re trying to deport these Venezuelan dudes purportedly tied to the Tren de Aragua gang. And who steps in? The Supreme Court, basically says, “Hold up, not so fast.”
There’s drama here. Dissenting voices came from two conservative justices, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito—a couple of renegades in robes. Meanwhile, lawyers who have these guys’ backs—that’s like, the American Civil Liberties Union folks—are breathing a sigh of relief because it was looking like these men could end up in some pretty gruesome lock-ups without even stepping foot in a courtroom to defend themselves.
I mean, imagine being yanked from the U.S. and plopped in an El Salvador jail. Actually, that’s where some of these dudes ended up last month. Despite a lower court judge, James Boasberg, throwing down a stop sign on this deportation frenzy. Did Trump care? Nah, he rolled his eyes and even called for the judge’s impeachment. Classy.
Even the planes scooped these guys up and headed to El Salvador, kinda ignoring the whole “hey, you should probably turn around” court order. Somehow, though, the Supremes saved some from that fate. Gelernt from ACLU was basically giving virtual fist pumps with that decision.
Now here’s a plot twist—the same Supreme Court lifts the deportation freeze earlier this month in a tight 5-4 vote. A high-five for the White House, but wait, they didn’t actually rule on Trump waving his ancient-law wand. Nah, it was more like, this whole legal kerfuffle landed in the wrong courthouse. Talk about judicial red tape.
Where does this leave us? Heck if I know. Hopefully, wherever we’re going, the back-and-forth chaos makes some sense eventually, and maybe—just maybe—people running from danger get a fair shake. But what do I know, I’m just trying to keep up with this rollercoaster.
