MILES PARKS, HOST:
President Donald Trump has moved at a fast pace to enact his immigration agenda, including his promise of mass deportations. But the strategy has also left the administration in the midst of several legal battles, including with the Supreme Court. NPR's immigration policy reporter Ximena Bustillo is with me now. Hi, Ximena.
XIMENA BUSTILLO, BYLINE: Hey, Miles.
PARKS: So let's start with the immediate developments. Overnight, the Supreme Court issued an order against the president. What did that say?
BUSTILLO: Well, the justice issued an order stopping the administration from using the Alien Enemies Act to remove people currently held at the Bluebonnet Detention Facility in Texas. The order came just after midnight Eastern, and only two judges - Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito - dissented.
PARKS: And why that specific detention center?
BUSTILLO: So yesterday, the American Civil Liberties Union caught wind that there were migrants detained there who were receiving forms titled Notice and Warrant of Apprehension and Removal Under The Alien Enemies Act. The ACLU and other legal organizations quickly filed documents with the D.C. District Court. They said that their clients got the forms, which alleged that they're members of the Tren de Aragua Venezuelan gang and that immigration officers told them that they would be deported within the next day.
Now, a few weeks ago, the Supreme Court had ruled that the administration could use the Alien Enemies Act to deport people, but it had to ensure that those people got due process and the chance to contest allegations, such as claims that they're members of a gang. The ACLU argues that there wasn't anything on those forms that indicate how those people could challenge the deportation nor enough time to do so. So they asked D.C. Judge James Boasberg to issue a temporary restraining order on the use of the act. But Boasberg denied the motion, saying he didn't believe he had the jurisdiction to do so since he's in D.C., so the groups appealed to the Supreme Court.
PARKS: It does feel like the Alien Enemies Act is becoming a big part of the immigration battle right now. Can you just remind us why the administration wants to use it?
BUSTILLO: Yeah, the Alien Enemies Act is a wartime power that the president can invoke. Trump did so last month, and it previously has mostly been used in times of actual declared war. The last time it was used was during World War II. Basically, the act allows the administration to streamline deportations and forgo the regular immigration court process. And that would be beneficial for Trump because he wants to speed up these deportations and removals, and immigration court can take months or even years.
The ACLU and other groups have been pushing back against the use of the act. They argue that this is - the way that the administration is implementing it - there's just no due process. Even when it was last used, there was at least a hearing board that could hear someone's case as to why they shouldn't be removed.
The Supreme Court is allowing the administration to use the act, at least for now, and it told the ACLU that if they want to fight it, they need to do so individually. So various lawsuits have been filed across district courts, some of which have blocked the administration from using this strategy with folks who are being held in detention centers within the geographic jurisdiction of those courts. Now, let's circle back to Bluebonnet...
PARKS: Right.
BUSTILLO: ...That facility in Texas. The ACLU argues that the administration was trying to move people there because it's one of the detention centers in Texas that is currently not blocked. The administration, though, is denying that that is their strategy.
PARKS: Has the administration said anything at all since the Supreme Court came out with this ruling?
BUSTILLO: The White House has not issued an immediate response before the ruling came out last night. A spokesperson for Homeland Security did tell me that they are in compliance with the court's orders. The president also took to Truth Social to post another cinematic-style video of men being taken off planes, their heads shaven, and then put in cells at CECOT. That's the notorious megaprison in El Salvador, where over 100 people removed with the Alien Enemies Act were last taken.
PARKS: The administration, as we've seen this week, has been using El Salvador as a key partner in these removals. What is that looking like, looking ahead?
BUSTILLO: So the use of the Alien Enemies Act has been slowed because of many of those district court decisions and, of course, last night's Supreme Court decision. But there are other ways that the administration is sending people to CECOT. They're still sending some select flights from the U.S. with those they allege are members of gangs, and this has been spurred by the growing alliance between Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele. Bukele has said that he wants to expand this facility, as well.
PARKS: I think with all of the different - it almost feels like every single day, we're getting a new - something from some court regarding immigration right now. Can you take a step back and just talk about how this administration's entire immigration policy agenda is overall being received by courts?
BUSTILLO: I mean, it definitely is a bit of a mixed bag. They've had some wins, and they've also had some losses. Several of their efforts have been blocked by or are still stuck in litigation with the courts. One big example of this is that Day 1 executive order to impose restrictions on birthright citizenship. Remember that? The Supreme Court has set oral arguments on a trio of cases challenging that for next month. The administration has also received temporary restraining orders, for now blocking its attempts to revoke parole status for over half a million Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans that were about to lose their status.
But as we've also been discussing, they have seen some wins, like the approval to utilize Alien Enemies Act, at least for now, or the green light to ensure that everyone in the U.S. without legal status has to register with the federal government. There is more to see about how far the administration goes and how the judicial branch as a whole navigates the new policies that Trump wants to implement.
PARKS: Thank you, NPR immigration policy reporter Ximena Bustillo, for tracking all of this for us. Thanks a lot.
BUSTILLO: Thanks for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
