The White House asked the Supreme Court Friday to lift a federal judge’s order and allow the use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to swiftly deport suspected members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua to Central America.
The emergency request to the high court came two days after a divided three-judge panel on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Trump administration’s request to lift a 14-day stay imposed March 15 by DC US District Judge James Boasberg as litigation plays out.
“This case presents fundamental questions about who decides how to conduct sensitive national-security-related operations in this country — the President, through Article II, or the Judiciary,” acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris wrote in the administration’s petition to the high court.
Venezuelan migrants walk following their arrival on a flight after being deported from the United States, in Caracas, Venezuela, March 28, 2025. REUTERS“The Constitution supplies a clear answer: the President,” Harris asserted. “The republic cannot afford a different choice.”
The Trump administration further argued Boasberg’s temporary restraining order is jeopardizing “sensitive diplomatic negotiations and delicate national-security operations” designed to root out the ruthless Venezuelan prison gang “before it gains a greater foothold” in the US.
The appeal also claimed that the five Venezuelan migrants who initially filed the lawsuit – claiming they’re not members of Tren de Aragua – should make their case in a federal court in Texas, where they are being detained.
Also Friday, Boasberg, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, extended his initial 14-day TRO against the Trump administration until April 12.
The judge’s freeze on the administration’s use of the 227-year-old law was set to expire on Saturday.
“No developments have taken place since the entry of the TROs that call these judgments into question,” Boasberg wrote, ruling that grounds for originally granting the TRO continue to exist.
President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act for the first time since World War II earlier this month in an effort to quickly deport alleged Tren de Aragua members to a mega-prison in El Salvador.
Trump, 78, considers the gang an invading force, whose presence in the US grew under the Biden administration’s lax immigration and border policies.
“[T]he district court’s orders have rebuffed the President’s judgments as to how to protect the Nation against foreign terrorist organizations and risk debilitating effects for delicate foreign negotiations,” Harris wrote in the administration’s filing. “More broadly, rule-by-TRO has become so commonplace among district courts that the Executive Branch’s basic functions are in peril.”
“Only this Court can stop rule-by-TRO from further upending the separation of powers — the sooner, the better.”
