Federal judge stops deportations following Trump's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg has mandated the return of planes that were en route to Central America.
TroibNews 
A federal judge has issued an immediate hold on President Donald Trump's attempts to deport Venezuelan nationals swiftly using uncommon wartime powers designed for cases of foreign invasion. The judge has also ordered the return of aircraft that were already en route to Central America.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, on Saturday, directed the Trump administration to stop deportations of Venezuelan migrants while he examines the legality of Trump's application of the Alien Enemies Act.
The lawsuit, initiated by five identified Venezuelan immigrants, has tentatively been transformed into a class action, effectively preventing the deportation of all non-citizens in U.S. custody affected by Trump's proclamation invoking this rarely referenced law.
“Any plane containing these folks that is going to take off or is in the air needs to be returned to the United States however that is accomplished,” Boasberg stated. “Make sure it’s complied with immediately.”
Two planes thought to be carrying Venezuelan deportees departed from Harlingen, Texas, amid a video hearing Boasberg held Saturday regarding the lawsuit from immigrant-rights advocates. Flight tracking data indicated one aircraft was en route to San Salvador, El Salvador, while the other was headed for Comayagua, Honduras, both nearing their destinations as Boasberg issued his directive.
Boasberg highlighted significant legal uncertainties surrounding Trump's justification for invoking the historic 1798 law by equating the criminal organization Tren de Aragua to a foreign government.
The temporary restraining order granted by Boasberg will remain effective for 14 days, which he deemed sufficient to address the legality of Trump's actions. A further hearing on the case's merits is scheduled for late next week.
"Today was a horrific day in the history of the nation, when the President publicized that he was seeking to invoke extraordinary wartime powers in the absence of a war or invasion and claiming virtually unlimited authority to remove people from the country. But, tonight the rule of law prevailed,” remarked Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, a national legal organization.
Trump's proclamation, released by the White House Saturday afternoon but signed the day before, leverages the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, intended for the rapid deportation of foreigners during wartime. This came shortly after a federal judge had preemptively ordered that the five Venezuelan nationals be protected from immediate deportation. This action adds to the list of sweeping executive measures from the White House aimed at hastening Trump's plans to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. The Justice Department contended that the President holds the unilateral right to determine who poses a significant threat to the U.S. due to his inherent authority concerning national security.
“I find and declare that TdA is perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States,” Trump stated in his declaration.
The order tasked Attorney General Pam Bondi with signing a letter within 60 days to formalize this U.S. policy, which is to be distributed to all judges, including Supreme Court justices, as well as governors across every state.
According to the directive, every immigrant fitting the criteria outlined in the order is subject to “immediate apprehension, detention, and removal.” However, it remains unclear how many members of Tren de Aragua are present in the U.S. or how such designations would be determined.
Trump has previously hinted throughout his campaign about potentially using the Alien Enemies Act to facilitate his mass deportation agenda, pledging to do so again on Inauguration Day. He indicated on January 20 that he would direct the government to utilize federal and state law enforcement's full power to eliminate the presence of foreign gangs and criminal networks causing crime in the U.S., including cities and inner cities. Recently, he also initiated efforts to classify eight Latin American cartels, including Tren de Aragua, as foreign terrorist organizations.
“We’ll be reading a lot of stories tomorrow about what we’ve done with them,” Trump remarked at the Justice Department on Friday, referring to Tren de Aragua. “You’ll be very impressed, and you feel a lot safer, because they are a vicious group.”
Just hours before the official release of the president's proclamation, Boasberg rendered an urgent ruling prohibiting the deportations of the five plaintiffs involved in the suit, responding to “exigent circumstances” and arranging a hearing later that same afternoon.
The lawsuit filed by Democracy Forward and the ACLU stresses that the Alien Enemies Act has historically been invoked solely during wartime—specifically, during the War of 1812, World War I, and World War II. Boasberg’s initial order was issued with an unusual sense of urgency, occurring before the Trump administration had an opportunity to respond.
The administration swiftly appealed both of Boasberg's decisions to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
In a motion aimed at securing an emergency stay of his initial order, the Justice Department claimed that the discussion surrounding the use of the Alien Enemies Act was hypothetical and “fundamentally a political question to be resolved by the President.” At the point of that filing, Trump had already signed the proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act, though it had not yet been made public.
Advocates for immigrant rights warned that Trump's actions could put “countless Venezuelans” at “imminent risk of deportation without any hearing or meaningful review.”
This age-old law empowers the government to arrest, detain, and deport undocumented individuals over the age of 14 from nations posing an “invasion or predatory incursion” to the United States.
Individuals identified under this wartime law would face rapid deportation without the benefit of an asylum interview or immigration court hearing. Instead, they would be detained and deported with minimal due process.
“There is so much urgency here, and so much harm at stake,” ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt, who is representing the Venezuelan nationals, stated during a Saturday hearing. “The government appears to be moving planes very rapidly; our understanding is that planes are going right now."
Flight tracking services indicated multiple flights slated to depart from Valley International Airport in Harlingen with planes operated by a company employed by Immigration & Customs Enforcement for deportation.
Video footage shared online on Saturday depicted a bus leaving the El Valle detention center in Raymondville, Texas, closely followed by law enforcement vehicles. Immigration attorney Jaime Diez noted that he filmed the transfer of immigrants being escorted for deportation under heavy security just after 2 p.m. Central Time on Saturday.
“There was a helicopter following them,” Diez recounted. “There was a lot of activity going down there …. there was a showing of force to make sure nothing happened.”
Earlier that same day, Diez obtained a ruling from a federal judge in Brownsville, Texas, prohibiting the deportation of Venezuelan Daniel Zacarias Matos. Court documents detailed that Zacarias Matos had been informed Friday that he would be taken to the airport for deportation “due to an order from the President,” although the flight did not proceed because “it did not pass an inspection."
Lucas Dupont contributed to this article for TROIB News
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, on Saturday, directed the Trump administration to stop deportations of Venezuelan migrants while he examines the legality of Trump's application of the Alien Enemies Act.
The lawsuit, initiated by five identified Venezuelan immigrants, has tentatively been transformed into a class action, effectively preventing the deportation of all non-citizens in U.S. custody affected by Trump's proclamation invoking this rarely referenced law.
“Any plane containing these folks that is going to take off or is in the air needs to be returned to the United States however that is accomplished,” Boasberg stated. “Make sure it’s complied with immediately.”
Two planes thought to be carrying Venezuelan deportees departed from Harlingen, Texas, amid a video hearing Boasberg held Saturday regarding the lawsuit from immigrant-rights advocates. Flight tracking data indicated one aircraft was en route to San Salvador, El Salvador, while the other was headed for Comayagua, Honduras, both nearing their destinations as Boasberg issued his directive.
Boasberg highlighted significant legal uncertainties surrounding Trump's justification for invoking the historic 1798 law by equating the criminal organization Tren de Aragua to a foreign government.
The temporary restraining order granted by Boasberg will remain effective for 14 days, which he deemed sufficient to address the legality of Trump's actions. A further hearing on the case's merits is scheduled for late next week.
"Today was a horrific day in the history of the nation, when the President publicized that he was seeking to invoke extraordinary wartime powers in the absence of a war or invasion and claiming virtually unlimited authority to remove people from the country. But, tonight the rule of law prevailed,” remarked Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, a national legal organization.
Trump's proclamation, released by the White House Saturday afternoon but signed the day before, leverages the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, intended for the rapid deportation of foreigners during wartime. This came shortly after a federal judge had preemptively ordered that the five Venezuelan nationals be protected from immediate deportation. This action adds to the list of sweeping executive measures from the White House aimed at hastening Trump's plans to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. The Justice Department contended that the President holds the unilateral right to determine who poses a significant threat to the U.S. due to his inherent authority concerning national security.
“I find and declare that TdA is perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States,” Trump stated in his declaration.
The order tasked Attorney General Pam Bondi with signing a letter within 60 days to formalize this U.S. policy, which is to be distributed to all judges, including Supreme Court justices, as well as governors across every state.
According to the directive, every immigrant fitting the criteria outlined in the order is subject to “immediate apprehension, detention, and removal.” However, it remains unclear how many members of Tren de Aragua are present in the U.S. or how such designations would be determined.
Trump has previously hinted throughout his campaign about potentially using the Alien Enemies Act to facilitate his mass deportation agenda, pledging to do so again on Inauguration Day. He indicated on January 20 that he would direct the government to utilize federal and state law enforcement's full power to eliminate the presence of foreign gangs and criminal networks causing crime in the U.S., including cities and inner cities. Recently, he also initiated efforts to classify eight Latin American cartels, including Tren de Aragua, as foreign terrorist organizations.
“We’ll be reading a lot of stories tomorrow about what we’ve done with them,” Trump remarked at the Justice Department on Friday, referring to Tren de Aragua. “You’ll be very impressed, and you feel a lot safer, because they are a vicious group.”
Just hours before the official release of the president's proclamation, Boasberg rendered an urgent ruling prohibiting the deportations of the five plaintiffs involved in the suit, responding to “exigent circumstances” and arranging a hearing later that same afternoon.
The lawsuit filed by Democracy Forward and the ACLU stresses that the Alien Enemies Act has historically been invoked solely during wartime—specifically, during the War of 1812, World War I, and World War II. Boasberg’s initial order was issued with an unusual sense of urgency, occurring before the Trump administration had an opportunity to respond.
The administration swiftly appealed both of Boasberg's decisions to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
In a motion aimed at securing an emergency stay of his initial order, the Justice Department claimed that the discussion surrounding the use of the Alien Enemies Act was hypothetical and “fundamentally a political question to be resolved by the President.” At the point of that filing, Trump had already signed the proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act, though it had not yet been made public.
Advocates for immigrant rights warned that Trump's actions could put “countless Venezuelans” at “imminent risk of deportation without any hearing or meaningful review.”
This age-old law empowers the government to arrest, detain, and deport undocumented individuals over the age of 14 from nations posing an “invasion or predatory incursion” to the United States.
Individuals identified under this wartime law would face rapid deportation without the benefit of an asylum interview or immigration court hearing. Instead, they would be detained and deported with minimal due process.
“There is so much urgency here, and so much harm at stake,” ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt, who is representing the Venezuelan nationals, stated during a Saturday hearing. “The government appears to be moving planes very rapidly; our understanding is that planes are going right now."
Flight tracking services indicated multiple flights slated to depart from Valley International Airport in Harlingen with planes operated by a company employed by Immigration & Customs Enforcement for deportation.
Video footage shared online on Saturday depicted a bus leaving the El Valle detention center in Raymondville, Texas, closely followed by law enforcement vehicles. Immigration attorney Jaime Diez noted that he filmed the transfer of immigrants being escorted for deportation under heavy security just after 2 p.m. Central Time on Saturday.
“There was a helicopter following them,” Diez recounted. “There was a lot of activity going down there …. there was a showing of force to make sure nothing happened.”
Earlier that same day, Diez obtained a ruling from a federal judge in Brownsville, Texas, prohibiting the deportation of Venezuelan Daniel Zacarias Matos. Court documents detailed that Zacarias Matos had been informed Friday that he would be taken to the airport for deportation “due to an order from the President,” although the flight did not proceed because “it did not pass an inspection."
Lucas Dupont contributed to this article for TROIB News
