Trump Is Taking His Fight to Deport Venezuelans to the Supreme Court

The case could test how much power the court will allow President Donald Trump to exert to enact his deportation agenda.

Supreme Court

Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/AP

The Trump administration on Friday asked the Supreme Court to allow it to restart rushed deportation flights of people labeled “alien enemies,” setting up the court for a major test of its willingness to let the president act unilaterally.

Government lawyers framed the matter as a core constitutional question, one that would determine who has ultimate authority on law enforcement operations.

“This case presents fundamental questions about who decides how to conduct sensitive national-security-related operations in this country — the president, through Article II, or the judiciary, through” temporary restraining orders, wrote Sarah M. Harris, the government’s acting solicitor general. “The Constitution supplies a clear answer: the president. The republic cannot afford a different choice.”