U.S. District Judge James Boasberg has canceled a Tuesday afternoon hearing on the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged migrant gang members without due process, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday evening that the administration could resume carrying out such deportations.
Boasberg had scheduled the hearing to consider whether to convert the temporary restraining order he issued blocking those deportations last month into a longer-lasting preliminary injunction, as he mulled whether to hold the administration in contempt for failing to provide information about the deportation of over 200 alleged Venezuelan gang members last month.
Boasberg’s order canceling Tuesday’s hearing did not address where the contempt issue stands.
The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision Monday evening, ruled that the Trump administration could resume deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members under the Alien Enemies Act, but said detainees must be given due process to challenge their removal.
The unsigned opinion lifted Boasberg’s temporary restraining order, ruling that he lacked the jurisdiction to address the matter.
In response to the Supreme Court’s ruling, the ACLU — which is representing several alleged Venezuelan gang members who are set to be sent to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act — filed habeas petitions in the New York district where the men are being held, seeking to challenge their removal.
Trump last month invoked the Alien Enemies Act — a wartime authority used to deport noncitizens with little-to-no due process — by arguing that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is a “hybrid criminal state” that is invading the United States.
Judge Boasberg temporarily blocked the president’s use of the law on March 15, ordering that the government turn around two flights carrying more than 200 alleged Tren de Aragua members to El Salvador.
Authorities failed to turn the flights around, leading the judge to threaten the administration with contempt.
ABC News’ Devin Dwyer contributed to this report.
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