President Donald Trump of the United States on Friday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to lift a temporary order blocking him from using a 1798 law to swiftly deport alleged Venezuelan gang members as part of his two-month-old administration’s hardline approach to immigration.
In a filing, the Justice Department asked the court to lift Washington-based U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s March 15 order calling for a temporary pause on the summary removals of the Venezuelans while a legal challenge to Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to justify the deportations plays out.
According to the Justice Department in its filing on Friday, 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 republic cannot afford a different choice,” the department wrote.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Wednesday upheld the judge’s temporary block as proceedings continue in the case.
The dispute has reportedly elicited Trump’s grievances toward federal courts, which have issued dozens of rulings impeding parts of his agenda.
