Donald Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to allow his use of a 1798 law to swiftly deport alleged Venezuelan gang members as part of his administration's hardline approach to immigration, arguing that courts must not encroach on the president's national security authority.
The Justice Department in a filing asked the court to lift Washington-based U.S. District Judge James Boasberg's March 15 order calling for a temporary halt to the removals of the Venezuelans while a legal challenge to Trump's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to justify the deportations plays out. The 18th century law historically has been used only in wartime.
The Justice Department said in its filing on Friday that the case presents the question of who decides how to conduct sensitive national-security-related operations, the president or the judiciary. "The Constitution supplies a clear answer: the President," the department wrote. "The republic cannot afford a different choice."
