If you thought the Supreme Court’s 5–4 decision on Judge James Boasberg’s jurisdiction in the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) saga shut the door on further legal battles — think again. That ruling might’ve redirected the legal fight, but it sure didn’t end it.
As always, procedural rulings aren’t rulings on the merits. And what SCOTUS did Monday was simple: they said Judge Boasberg’s D.C. court wasn’t the proper venue for the plaintiffs’ claims under the AEA. No greenlight for mass deportation. No final say on the underlying constitutional issues. Just a jurisdictional redirect.
And redirected it was.
Three plaintiffs, now being held at the El Valle Detention Center in Raymondville, Texas, have filed a fresh petition in the Southern District of Texas seeking a writ of habeas corpus. On Wednesday morning, Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr., a Trump appointee, issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) — a narrowly scoped pause to halt their removal under the AEA until a more thorough hearing can be held.
JUST IN: Trump-appointed judge in Texas blocks removals under the Alien Enemies Act, citing the SCOTUS ruling and the potential for a mistake as revealed in the Abrego Garcia case.
This follows a similar order from NY judge on two other AEA targets https://t.co/h1nrJX53XU pic.twitter.com/OvVSCi0dDv
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) April 9, 2025
What does that mean? For now, those individuals can’t be deported under the AEA’s authority. But let’s be clear: this is not a ruling on the merits. This is a procedural timeout, a legal breather to make sure nobody is wrongly expelled without their day in court.
And it’s not just Texas. Two other plaintiffs, inexplicably transferred to New York, have filed a similar suit there. So yes, this legal drama is now playing out on multiple judicial fronts.
One point lost in the headline noise: all nine justices — yes, even the conservative bloc — agreed that due process still matters. Under the AEA, the government can move quickly, but it cannot skip constitutional steps. Individuals facing removal are still entitled to notice and an opportunity to be heard. That’s what’s happening here.
This isn’t resistance. It’s the Constitution doing what it does — slowing the government down just enough to double-check the tags before someone gets shown the door.
A hearing is scheduled for Friday at 1:30 p.m. in Texas, and the Trump administration hasn’t even had a chance to respond to the habeas petition yet. The real test comes then. Depending on how the administration argues its case — and how the court weighs the merits — we’ll know whether this TRO becomes something more permanent or vanishes like a puff of legal smoke.
