Tipsheet

How the Amy Coney Barrett Problem Popped Up Again During the Illegal Alien Deportations Case

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  April 08, 2025 1:30 AM

This little game with Judge James Boasberg is over. The Trump administration has the right to deport illegal aliens under the Alien Enemies Act. The executive is in full control of immigration policy. Boasberg the clown got shut down, but as expected, some of the articles about this from the legacy press were ridiculous. The Washington Post said the ruling was divided. It was a 5-4 decision—a clear majority, guys: 

A divided Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for the Trump administration to use a controversial wartime authority to deport alleged members of a Venezuelan gang, but said detainees must first have an opportunity to challenge their deportations. 

The 5-4 ruling did not touch on the underlying legal questions about the government’s use of the Alien Enemies Act, one of the most high-profile and contentious immigration enforcement actions so far in President Donald Trump’s second term. 

Instead, the majority ruled that the five Venezuelan immigrants who challenged the policy did so in the wrong court, leaving open the possibility that those targeted for deportation could refile their case in Texas or other jurisdictions where they are detained. 

“The detainees are confined in Texas, so venue is improper in the District of Columbia,” the justices wrote of the challenge in U.S. District Court in D.C. “As a result, the Government is likely to succeed on the merits of this action.” 

[…] 

The decision appears to take the central legal issues of the case away from Judge James E. Boasberg of U.S. District Court in Washington, whose temporary restraining order blocking the deportations prompted impeachment calls from Trump and his allies and triggered a showdown between the president and the judiciary. 

“Appears”—no, it did take it away. You lose, Boasberg. But this case brought Justice Amy Coney Barrett front and center again. She sided with the liberal majority, so we’re back to this question: do we have an Amy Coney Barrett problem?

This isn’t the first time we’ve asked this, too.