Court Temporarily Halts Deportation Challenge for Venezuelans

A U.S. appeals court has temporarily halted a decision that mandated hundreds of Venezuelans deported under an 18th-century wartime statute the opportunity to contest their detentions. The court's administrative stay provides additional time to deliberate on an appeal lodged by the government on the same day.

On June 4, Washington-based U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruled that the deportees should have facilitated access to legal challenges, known as habeas corpus petitions. The ruling required the government to outline within a week how it plans to facilitate these challenges, though it did not mandate the return of the migrants to the U.S.

The Venezuelans were deported in March after President Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to expedite the removal of alleged gang members. The panel of judges pausing Boasberg's ruling includes Trump appointees from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The ACLU, representing the Venezuelans, has not yet commented on this development.

(With inputs from agencies.)