It was after 1 am on a Saturday morning, well after scotch o’clock at the Supreme Court of the United States, when the order issued.

There is before the Court an application on behalf of a putative class of detainees seeking an injunction against their removal under the Alien Enemies Act. The matter is currently pending before the Fifth Circuit. Upon action by the Fifth Circuit, the Solicitor General is invited to file a response to the application before this Court as soon as possible. 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. See 28 U. S. C. §1651(a).

While the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia before Judge Paula Xinis, and the order of Judge James Boasberg, are the public face of the matters, replete with bizarre misrepresentations of fact and law that enable the unduly passionate but legally ignorant to grab hold onto arguments that are either flagrantly  false or nonsensical, the real issue before the Supreme Court is far more fundamental. Will President Trump recognize the limits imposed by judicial review, by the Supreme Court, or will he violate the law with abandon and reject any limits on his power?

The order issued in the wee hours of the morning when justices are asleep was not unanimous.

Justice Thomas and Justice Alito dissent from the Court’s order. Statement from Justice Alito to follow.

What issue they might have with the order is unknown for now, but if there had to be two justices in dissent, it would surprise no one that it would be Thomas and Alito. Perhaps they see a crack in the process, or standing, or ripeness, that precludes their joining the other seven justices. Perhaps it’s something more dubious, even nefarious, that drives them. For now, no one knows.

What is known, however, is that the Supreme Court, faced with the Trump administration’s imminent removal of human beings from the homeland to its hired prison under the control of Nayib Bukele, president of El Salvador and potential Trump IRS commissioner, decided to a clear  stand.

For the MAGA faithful, there is little concern for the renditioned, as outrage toward “illegals” is a basic premise of Trumpianism, with no regard for the niceties of proof that they are the bad dudes they are claimed to be, and even less regard for the evidence they are not, and the view that due process, the same due process that has been denied male college students in Title IX sex tribunals, is just a bump in the road slowing down the compelling need to expel the evil immigrants that are turning America into a third world country. After all, Trump is managing to pull that off all on his own.

You don’t have to like immigrants, illegal or otherwise. You don’t even have to like due process, even though you love it dearly when it’s your ass on the line. What you do, however, have to like is the United States of America, a nation that exists pursuant to its Constitution. Absent adherence to, and respect for, the Constitution, the name is no more a reflection of the nation than the Gulf of America, one of the many initiatives that have made us a laughing stock to the rest of the world that doesn’t take its place names from Trump’s sharpie.

What is most striking about the midnight order is that it lacks any equivocation, any olive branch to make its impact more palatable to the easily offended executive. The last order, the one Stephen Miller claimed Trump won 9-0 when he lost, required more reading and thought, two activities disfavored by the Trump administration. This order leaves nothing to doubt.

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 White House had its say.

Fixed it for you, @NYTimes.

Oh, and by the way, @ChrisVanHollen — he’s NOT coming back. pic.twitter.com/VoAphh2ZPY

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 18, 2025

Now the Supreme Court has spoken. Will Trump hear it? Will Trump care? Will Trump comply?