News from the South - Kentucky News Feed
Trump asks U.S. Supreme Court to restore blocked deportation plan

by Ariana Figueroa, Kentucky Lantern
March 28, 2025
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration submitted an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday in an effort to resume the rapid deportations of Venezuelans accused of gang ties under a wartime law that a lower court blocked.
Acting U.S. Solicitor General Sarah Harris argued in a brief to the Supreme Court that a federal judge’s temporary restraining order this month, and an appeals court ruling Wednesday upholding it, wrongly denied President Donald Trump the authority to make decisions about national security operations, including the removal of Venezuelan nationals the administration says are subject to the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
“The district court’s orders have rebuffed the President’s judgments as to how to protect the Nation against foreign terrorist organizations and risk debilitating effects for delicate foreign negotiations,” Harris wrote in her request to the court.
The Alien Enemies Act had only been invoked three times, during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II.
The Trump administration has tried to use it in a novel way, when the nation is not officially at war. The administration designated the Tren de Aragua – a gang that originated in Venezuela – as a foreign terrorist group, and argued that any Venezuelan nationals aged 14 and older with suspected ties to the gang are subject to the proclamation.
U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg placed a temporary restraining order on the Trump administration’s use of the law this month, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the order this week. The administration asked the Supreme Court to lift the order.
“As long as the orders remain in force, the United States is unable to rely on the Proclamation to remove dangerous affiliates with a foreign terrorist organization—even if the United States receives indications that particular (Tren de Aragua) members are about to take destabilizing or infiltrating actions,” Harris said Friday.
Extending restraining order
Boasberg’s temporary restraining order placed on the use of the Alien Enemies Act is set to expire Saturday. The American Civil Liberties Union, which brought the suit, requested that order be extended for an additional two weeks.
The ACLU also plans to request Boasberg issue a preliminary injunction, which would block the administration from deportations under the act until the lawsuit is complete. A hearing is set for April 8.
Boasberg has rejected the Trump administration’s move to lift his restraining order, on the grounds that those subject to the Alien Enemies Act should have due process to challenge those accusations.
At the D.C. Circuit this week, Department of Justice attorneys for the Trump administration argued that those subject to the proclamation do not need to be notified they are being removed under the Alien Enemies Act. The Trump administration also argued that those who fall under the Alien Enemies Act can bring a challenge of their detention under a habeas corpus claim.
Defied verbal order
The White House quietly implemented the act on March 15 and a verbal restraining order given by Boasberg that day to block it went into effect hours later.
In that order, Boasberg barred the Trump administration from applying the act but three deportation planes landed in El Salvador after the order was issued. The Trump administration has argued that his verbal order was not enforceable.
Boasberg also ordered that anyone subject to the Alien Enemies Act be returned to the U.S., but federal immigration agents took more than 250 men aboard the three flights to a notorious prison in El Salvador.
Boasberg has vowed to determine if the Trump administration violated his restraining order in sending the deportation planes to El Salvador, but Attorney General Pam Bondi invoked the “state secrets privilege” to refuse to answer detailed questions about the flights.
Friday’s emergency request is one of several immigration-related appeals the Trump administration has made to the high court, such as the request to lift several nationwide injunctions placed on the president’s executive order that ends the constitutional right of birthright citizenship.
Last updated 2:31 p.m., Mar. 28, 2025
Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com.
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News from the South - Kentucky News Feed
U.S. Supreme Court pauses deportations under wartime law

by Ashley Murray, Kentucky Lantern
April 19, 2025
The U.S. Supreme Court early Saturday temporarily blocked a new round of deportations under the wartime Alien Enemies Act until the high court considers the case of several migrants in Texas whose lawyers say are at risk for “imminent removal.”
The justices issued the one-page order just after 1 a.m. Eastern, directing the government “not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this Court.”
The order was unsigned and noted conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented.
The rare overnight order followed a flurry of activity Friday after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the migrants’ appeal for a temporary restraining order.
A federal judge in the Northern District of Texas on Thursday denied the petitioners were at “imminent risk of summary removal” because immigration officials said in a previous court filing they would not deport the migrants until the district court resolved allegations that the removals are illegal.
The American Civil Liberties Union asked the Supreme Court to take up the matter Friday after the group said their clients were “loaded on to buses, presumably headed to the airport,” violating an earlier ruling from the justices.
The attorneys for Venezuelan men held at the Bluebonnet Detention Center in Anson, Texas, “learned that officers at Bluebonnet have distributed notices under the Alien Enemies Act, in English only, that designate Venezuelan men for removal under the AEA, and have told the men that the removals are imminent and will happen today.”
“These removals could therefore occur at any moment,” the ACLU wrote in its application.
President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 in mid-March to trigger the removals of the Venezuelans age 14 and up whom the administration suspected had ties to the Tren de Aragua gang.
The deportation flights sparked a legal challenge separately winding through the federal courts. Family members of many of the Venezuelan men say they have no gang ties and have been illegally deported without due process.
Last updated 11:09 a.m., Apr. 19, 2025
Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com.
The post U.S. Supreme Court pauses deportations under wartime law appeared first on kentuckylantern.com
News from the South - Kentucky News Feed
Trump administration revokes Murray State international student’s visa

by McKenna Horsley, Kentucky Lantern
April 18, 2025
Another international student’s visa has been revoked in Kentucky, this time at Murray State University.
According to local news reports, Murray State shared information about the student’s visa being revoked by the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday. A university spokesperson declined to give further information to protect the student’s privacy.
The news comes amid Trump administration efforts to ramp up deportations. Inside Higher Ed reported that as of Friday, more than 1,550 international students and recent graduates have had their legal status changed by the U.S. State Department.
Murray State College Democrats penned an open letter criticizing the university administration for not alerting students sooner to the visa revocation and asking for clearer information about the university’s response. “To be clear, we are not asking that personal information be released, just notification of when law enforcement is present and/or actively targeting students on campuses,” the letter says.
The College Democrats said students and their families choose colleges like Murray because they trust they will be safe there and that Murray “boasts about having international students from over 50 different countries.”
“Every student that seeks to learn at MSU has the right to do so without fear of persecution,” the letter reads. “Actions taken by administration are the only way to prove that the university cares about and will protect those rights.”
A Murray spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment Friday afternoon.
Earlier this month, the University of Kentucky reported a “small number” of graduate students had their visas revoked by the Department of Homeland Security. Officials from private Campbellsville University told Inside Higher Ed that some of its’ international students had their visas revoked but declined to say how many.
Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com.
The post Trump administration revokes Murray State international student’s visa appeared first on kentuckylantern.com
News from the South - Kentucky News Feed
Get the Facts: Is ICE partnering with Kentucky agencies to help with deportations?

SUMMARY: ICE is collaborating with several Kentucky counties to identify and arrest undocumented immigrants as part of the Trump administration’s immigration agenda. While Jefferson County does not partner with ICE, counties like Bullitt, Davis, Grayson, and Oldham are involved in a program that allows local officers to serve warrants for potential illegal immigrants in jails. These counties receive compensation for housing federal detainees, and ICE conducts regular inspections. Concerns about aggressive tactics and community fear are voiced by activists, particularly regarding the impact on local Hispanic populations. Some sheriffs acknowledge community worries while maintaining support for their partnerships with ICE.

Get the Facts: Is ICE partnering with Kentucky agencies to help with deportations?
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