WASHINGTON: The US Supreme Court, in a dramatic nighttime intervention Saturday, blocked President Donald Trump’s unprecedented use of an obscure law to deport Venezuelan migrants without due process.
The emergency ruling noted that two of the most conservative justices on the nine-member panel had dissented.
The order temporarily prevents the government from continuing to expel migrants under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act — last used to round up Japanese-American citizens during World War II.
Trump invoked the law last month to deport Venezuelans to a notorious prison in El Salvador that holds thousands of that country’s gangsters.
The court decision was triggered by imminent plans late Friday to expel dozens more Venezuelans under the act, meaning they would have been deported with next to no ability to hear evidence or challenge their cases.
The court said “the government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order.”
Trump justifies summary expulsions — and the detention of people in El Salvador — by insisting that he is cracking down on violent Venezuelan criminal gangs now classified by the US government as terrorists.
But the policy is fueling opposition concerns that the Republican is ignoring the US constitution in a broader bid to amass power.
The row over the Alien Enemies Act comes amid muscular assaults by the administration against big law firms, Harvard and other universities, and major independent media outlets.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which took the lead in seeking to halt Friday’s planned deportations, welcomed the Supreme Court ruling.
“These men were in imminent danger of spending their lives in a horrific foreign prison without ever having had a chance to go to court,” attorney Lee Gelernt said.
On Saturday the government filed a motion with the Supreme Court arguing that it should not be prevented from using the Alien Enemies Act to deport people it says are terrorists.
The government also asserted that even if it is blocked, the court should state that such deportations can go ahead using other laws.
Trump won the White House election last November in large part on promises to combat what he repeatedly claimed is an invasion of criminal migrants.
Trump’s rhetoric about rapists and murderers descending on suburban homes resonated with swaths of voters concerned about high levels of illegal immigration.
Trump has sent troops to the Mexican border, imposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada for allegedly not doing enough to stop illegal crossings, and designated gangs like Tren de Aragua and MS-13 as terrorist groups.
A right-wing influencer who meets often with Trump, Laura Loomer, said Saturday that the president was “gracious” for flying out people who entered the country illegally, rather than having them “shot to death” at the border.
Democrats and civil rights groups have expressed alarm at an erosion of constitutional rights.
Under Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act — previously seen only during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II — migrants have been accused of gang membership and sent to El Salvador without going before a judge or being charged with a crime.
Trump has also repeatedly said he would be open to sending American citizens convicted of violent crimes to the notorious El Salvador prison, CECOT, outside San Salvador.
Attorneys for several of the Venezuelans already deported have said their clients were targeted largely on the basis of their tattoos.
In the most publicized case to date, Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported last month to CECOT before the Trump administration admitted he was sent there due to an “administrative error.”
Even after a court ruled that the Trump administration must facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return, Trump has doubled down and insisted he is a gang member — including posting an apparently doctored photo on social media Friday that showed MS-13 on his knuckles.
As court challenges pile up, the president and his allies have repeatedly attacked what they call “activist” judges.
Another right-wing influencer with a large social media following, Jesse Kelly, responded to the overnight order freezing deportations by posting: “Ignore the Supreme Court.”
US Supreme Court intervenes to block Trump deportations
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US Supreme Court intervenes to block Trump deportations
- Trump justifies summary expulsions — and the detention of people in El Salvador — by insisting that he is cracking down on violent Venezuelan criminal gangs now classified by the US government as terrorists
India says Pakistan nuclear arsenal should be under UN surveillance
“I wanted to raise this question for the world: are nuclear weapons safe in the hands of a rogue and irresponsible nation?” Singh told troops at a base in Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir.
“I believe that Pakistan’s atomic weapons should be brought under he surveillance of IAEA. I want to say this very clearly,” he said, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
“The entire world has seen how Pakistan has irresponsibly threatened India with nuclear attacks multiple times.”
Pakistan repeatedly said during the conflict that the nuclear option was not on the table.
Singh’s comments came as the nuclear-armed rivals ended their worst military conflict in nearly three decades with a ceasefire announcement on Saturday.
The conflict sparked global concerns that it could spiral into a full-blown war.
The fighting began last Wednesday when India launched strikes against what it described as “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan.
Pakistan immediately responded with heavy artillery fire and a four-day standoff ensued between the South Asian rivals, which left around 70 people dead on both sides.
India claims Pakistan backed an April attack in which 26 people were killed in Indian-administered Kashmir — a charge Islamabad denies.
New Delhi had earlier denied targeting Pakistan’s nuclear installations during the brief conflict.
“We have not hit Kirana Hills,” Indian Air Marshal A.K. Bharti told reporters, referring to a vast rocky mountain range where, according to Indian media reports, Pakistan stores its nuclear arsenal.
China says ready to 'expand practical cooperation' with Russian army
BEIJING: China said Thursday it was ready to "expand practical cooperation" with the Russian army, after President Xi Jinping's recent visit to Moscow for a lavish World War II Victory Day parade.
"The Chinese military stands ready to work with the Russian side to further deepen strategic mutual trust, step up strategic communication, and expand practical cooperation," the ministry of defence said in a statement on social media platform WeChat.
Israel’s presence still roils Eurovision a year after major protests over the war in Gaza
- About 200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched Wednesday in the Swiss host city of Basel
- Oddsmakers suggest Raphael is likely to secure a place in Saturday’s final with her song “New Day Will Rise”
BASEL: Most contestants at the Eurovision Song Contest are seeking as much publicity as possible.
Israel’s Yuval Raphael is keeping a low profile.
The 24-year-old singer has done few media interviews or appearances during Eurovision week, as Israel’s participation in the pan-continental pop music competition draws protests for a second year.
Raphael is due to perform Thursday in the second semifinal at the contest in the Swiss city of Basel. Oddsmakers suggest Raphael is likely to secure a place in Saturday’s final with her anthemic song “New Day Will Rise.”
Israel has competed in Eurovision for more than 50 years and won four times. But last year’s event in Sweden drew large demonstrations calling for Israel to be kicked out of the contest over its conduct in the war against Hamas in Gaza.
More than 52,800 people in Gaza have been killed in Israel’s military offensive, according to the territory’s health ministry.
About 200 people, many draped in Palestinian flags, protested in central Basel on Wednesday evening, demanding an end to Israel’s military offensive and the country’s expulsion from Eurovision. They marched in silence down a street noisy with music and Eurovision revelry.
Many noted that Russia was banned from Eurovision after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
“It should be a happy occasion that Eurovision is finally in Switzerland, but it’s not,” said Lea Kobler, from Zurich. “How can we rightfully exclude Russia but we’re still welcoming Israel?”
Last year, Israeli competitor Eden Golan received boos when she performed live at Eurovision. Raphael told the BBC that she expects the same and has rehearsed with background noise so she won’t be distracted.
“But we are here to sing and I’m going to sing my heart out for everyone,” she said.
Anti-Israel protests in Basel have been much smaller than last year in Malmo. Another protest is planned for Saturday in downtown Basel, 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from the contest venue, St. Jakobshalle arena.
But concern by some Eurovision participants and broadcasters continues.
More than 70 former Eurovision contestants signed a letter calling for Israel to be excluded. Several of the national broadcasters that fund Eurovision, including those of Spain, Ireland and Iceland, have called for a discussion about Israel’s participation.
Swiss singer Nemo, who brought the competition to Switzerland by winning last year, told HuffPost UK that “Israel’s actions are fundamentally at odds with the values that Eurovision claims to uphold — peace, unity, and respect for human rights.”
At Wednesday’s protest, Basel resident Domenica Ott held a handmade sign saying “Nemo was right.”
She said the nonbinary singer was “very courageous.”
“If Russia couldn’t participate, why should Israel?” she said.
The European Broadcasting Union, which runs Eurovision, pointed out that Israel is represented by its public broadcaster, KAN, not the government. It has called on participants to respect Eurovision’s values of “universality, diversity, equality and inclusivity” and its political neutrality.
South African president to meet Trump on Wednesday over rising tensions
- The visit “provides a platform to reset the strategic relationship between the two countries,” it said
JOHANNESBURG: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will meet with his US counterpart Donald Trump in Washington next week amid strained ties between the two countries, Pretoria said Thursday.
Tensions have been rising for months over a range of policy issues, culminating this week with the US resettling a first group of white Afrikaners that Trump claims are facing “persecution” in South Africa.
“On Wednesday, 21 May 2025, President Ramaphosa will meet with President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington DC to discuss bilateral, regional and global issues of interest,” the presidency said in a statement released late Wednesday.
The visit “provides a platform to reset the strategic relationship between the two countries,” it said.
Trump has repeatedly shared unfounded claims that white Afrikaners are facing a “genocide,” a conspiracy theory that has been widely dismissed.
White South Africans, who make up 7.3 percent of the population, generally enjoy a higher standard of living than the black majority of the country.
Pretoria has said Trump’s offer of refugee status to Afrikaners is “entirely politically motivated and designed to question South Africa’s constitutional democracy.”
NATO chief ‘cautiously optimistic’ for Ukraine peace breakthrough
- NATO chief Mark Rutte said Thursday that he was “cautiously optimistic” for progress toward peace in Ukraine, but that it was up to Russia to take the “necessary next steps”
NATO chief Mark Rutte said Thursday that he was “cautiously optimistic” for progress toward peace in Ukraine, but that it was up to Russia to take the “necessary next steps.”
“I’m still cautiously optimistic that if also the Russians are willing to play ball, and not only the Ukrainians are doing this... that you could get to some breakthroughs over the next couple of weeks,” Rutte said at a NATO meeting in Turkiye.
