Trump’s effort to use an obscure wartime law to deport Venezuelans has fizzled

Litigation over the Alien Enemies Act is mired in the courts while the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro could have undermined the administration’s legal arguments.

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s contentious plan to use a wartime law to rapidly deport Venezuelans it alleged belonged to gangs hit a brick wall in the early hours of April 19, 2025, when the Supreme Court issued an unusual late-night order.

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