The Trump administration is preparing to deport potentially hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members without giving them the chance for judicial review required by the Supreme Court, lawyers representing detainees said in a court filing Friday.
Authorities were loading alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang onto buses in Texas and may send them as soon as Friday to a notorious prison in El Salvador, according to the filing. The detainees would be sent under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a wartime law that President Donald Trump invoked last month to deport gang members without due process, the filing said.
The allegations raise fresh questions about the administration’s compliance with an April 7 Supreme Court ruling that said accused Tren de Aragua gang members must get a “reasonable time” to challenge their deportation in federal court.
In an emergency motion filed with US District James Boasberg in Washington, the lawyers said the detainees had been given an English-only notice that didn’t explain how they could contest their deportation or how much time they had to do so.
Beyond filing with Boasberg, lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union also asked a judge in Abilene, Texas, to intervene.
A spokesperson for the Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Asked about whether he had authorized the operation, President Trump on Friday said “I don’t know about the group you’re talking about, but if they’re bad people, I would certainly authorize it, yeah.”
With assistance from Hadriana Lowenkron.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
