Judge: Trump's Use of Alien Enemies Act 'Unlawful'

A federal judge on Thursday barred the Trump administration from deporting any Venezuelans from South Texas under an 18th-century wartime law and said President Trump's invocation of it was "unlawful." US District Court Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. is the first judge to rule that the Alien Enemies Act cannot be used against people the administration claims are gang members invading the United States, the AP reports.

• "Neither the Court nor the parties question that the Executive Branch can direct the detention and removal of aliens who engage in criminal activity in the United States," wrote Rodriguez, who was nominated by Trump in 2018. But, the judge said, "the President's invocation of the AEA through the Proclamation ... is contrary to the plain, ordinary meaning of the statute's terms."

• In March, Trump issued a proclamation claiming that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua was invading the US. He said he had special powers to deport immigrants, identified by his administration as gang members, without the usual court proceedings. "The Court concludes that the President's invocation of the AEA through the Proclamation exceeds the scope of the statute and, as a result, is unlawful," Rodriguez wrote.
• Rodriguez's ruling is significant because it is the first formal permanent injunction against the administration using the AEA and contends the president is misusing the law, the AP reports. "Congress never meant for this law to be used in this manner," said Lee Gelernt, the ACLU lawyer who argued the case, in response to the ruling.

• Rodriguez agreed, noting that the provision has only been used during the two World Wars and the War of 1812. Trump claimed Tren de Aragua was acting at the behest of the Venezuelan government, but Rodriguez found that the activities the administration accused it of did not amount to an invasion or "predatory incursion," as the statute requires.
• If the administration appeals, it would go first to the New Orleans-based 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals, one of the nation's most conservative appeals courts. The Supreme Court has already weighed in once on the issue of deportations under the AEA. The justices held that migrants alleged to be gang members must be given "reasonable time" to contest their removal from the country. The court has not specified the length of time

(More deportation stories.)