Supreme Court to Detainees: Wrong Court, Try Texas

Venue for challenges to detention and removal under AEA lies only in district of confinementThe U.S. Supreme Court vacated orders from the D.C. District Court that had blocked the removal of Venezuelan nationals under a presidential proclamation issued via the Alien Enemies Act (AEA). The proclamation targets members of Tren de Aragua, a designated foreign terrorist organization. The Court held that legal challenges to such removals must be filed as habeas petitions in the district where detainees are confined—in this case, Texas, not Washington, D.C. Justice Kavanaugh concurred, emphasizing the Court’s agreement that detainees are entitled to judicial review, but only in the proper venue. Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, Jackson, and Barrett dissented, warning that the government’s behavior threatens the rule of law and criticizing the majority’s decision to intervene before the lower court’s full hearing.