Judge Restricts Trump’s Power to Deport Individuals Under 18th Century Alien Enemies Act

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Rommie Analytics

A federal judge intervened on Saturday, preventing the Trump administration from leveraging an 18th-century statute known as the Alien Enemies Act to deport five Venezuelans, triggering a surge of legal battles concerning this contentious action even before an official announcement was made by the president.

President Donald Trump has indicated his intention to utilize the Act from 1798, which was most recently employed to justify the internment of Japanese-American civilians during World War II.

On Saturday, the American Civil Liberties Union and Democracy Forward initiated an extraordinary lawsuit in federal court in Washington, arguing that the order would label a Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, as a “predatory incursion” by a foreign entity, seeking to deport any Venezuelan present in the U.S. as a member of that gang, regardless of their individual circumstances.

James E. Boasberg, the chief judge of the D.C. Circuit, issued a temporary restraining order halting the deportation of the five Venezuelans already in immigration detention for 14 days under the act. Boasberg criticized the order’s intent as “to maintain the status quo” and planned a hearing later to determine if the protection should extend to all Venezuelans residing in the United States.

Shortly thereafter, the Trump administration lodged an appeal against the initial restraining order.

This extraordinary wave of litigation underlines the contentious nature of the Alien Enemies Act, which could grant Trump extensive powers to deport individuals unlawfully residing in the country. It may allow him to sidestep certain protections associated with standard criminal and immigration law. However, it would likely encounter immediate legal challenges similar to those witnessed on Saturday, as this law has traditionally only been invoked during wartime.

The statute stipulates that a formal declaration of war is required before its activation. Immigration lawyers expressed concern over a swift escalation of activity late Friday night.

“It seems the government was preparing to deport several Venezuelans for which they held no legal authority to deport,” remarked Ahilan Arulanantham, an immigration lawyer based in Los Angeles, who filed two petitions to halt deportations that evening.

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