In a landmark 2–1 decision, the D.C. Circuit Court struck a blow to the Trump administration’s attempt to use an 18th-century wartime statute to deport Venezuelan nationals. The ruling froze deportations and reignited fierce debate over how far executive power can stretch in the name of national security. Judge Patricia Millett’s majority opinion argued that even amid political turmoil, constitutional due process cannot be erased by laws written for another century’s wars.

The decision marks a rare judicial rebuke to a policy critics have called both archaic and unconstitutional. Attorney General Pam Bondi quickly vowed to take the fight to the Supreme Court, setting up a high-stakes showdown over presidential power and human rights. For now, hundreds of Venezuelan immigrants remain in limbo — spared, but uncertain — as America’s courts once again become the battleground for the nation’s conscience.