Alito Castigates Majority for 'Middle of the Night' Order

In a dissent itself released just before midnight Saturday, Justice Samuel Alito castigated the Supreme Court majority for blocking the Trump administration from deporting Venezuelan migrants being held in Texas, writing, "Literally in the middle of the night, the court issued unprecedented and legally questionable relief." Justice Clarence Thomas joined Alito's five-page dissent, the New York Times reports. Alito wrote that the court's overnight intervention, in which it paused the deportations while it considers the American Civil Liberties Union's emergency appeal, was not "necessary or appropriate."

The filing said the administration was planning to deport a group of Venezuelan migrants it says are gang members under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. Alito contended that it was not clear whether the Supreme Court has jurisdiction over the case at this stage because all legal avenues had not been played out in lower courts and the justices had not had heard the administration's arguments, per the AP. "Both the Executive and the Judiciary have an obligation to follow the law," Alito said. The administration has filed paperwork asking the Supreme Court to lift its hold on the deportations.

• The Times posted the dissent text here.

(More Samuel A. Alito stories.)