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(REUTERS)
The US Supreme Court early on Saturday paused President Donald Trump's administration from deporting Venezuelan men in immigration custody after their lawyers said they were at imminent risk of removal without the judicial review previously mandated by the justices.
"The Government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this Court," the justices said in a brief, unsigned decision.
Conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito publicly dissented from the decision, issued around 12:55 a.m. (0455 GMT).
Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed urgent requests on Friday in multiple courts, including the Supreme Court, urging immediate action after reporting that some of the men had already been loaded onto buses and were told they were to be deported.
The ACLU said the rapid developments meant the administration was poised to deport the men using a 1798 law that historically has been employed only in wartime without affording them a realistic opportunity to contest their removal - as the Supreme Court had required.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Supreme Court decision.
The case raises questions about the Trump administration's adherence to limits set by the Supreme Court. It carries the risk of a significant clash between the two coequal branches of government and potentially a full-blown constitutional crisis.
Elected last year on a promise to crack down on migrants, Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act in an attempt to swiftly deport accused members of Tren de Aragua, a criminal gang originating from Venezuelan prisons that his administration labels a terrorist group.
The president and his senior aides have asserted their executive power grants them wide authority on immigration matters, testing the balance of power between branches of government.
