A divided US Supreme Court has allowed President Donald Trump to resume using a wartime law to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members after an emergency request was granted on a 5-4 vote. The justices overturned a lower court order that had halted deportations under the Alien Enemies Act, requiring detainees to receive notice and the opportunity to present their case to a judge before deportation.

The court clarified that detainees must challenge their deportation through a habeas corpus case in the jurisdiction where they are held, as opposed to the court where they had initially filed the lawsuit. Trump praised the decision on social media, emphasizing the importance of upholding the rule of law to protect the nation's borders and families.

Although the court did not address claims that numerous individuals were deported to a harsh prison in El Salvador without the chance to prove they were not gang members, it stated that detainees' rights against summary removal were not currently in dispute according to the Justice Department's stance.

The ruling was deemed an important victory by Lee Gelernt, the deputy director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project, as it established the necessity for individuals to have due process in challenging their removal under the Alien Enemies Act. Justice Amy Coney Barrett sided with liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson in dissenting and criticizing the majority's decision and the administration's application of the law.