The Alien Enemies Act can’t be used to detain and deport Venezuelan gang members, a federal judge ruled Thursday, a significant blow to President Trump’s claims of expansive deportation powers.
Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. said the 1798 law requires either a state of war or an invasion or incursion by agents of an enemy nation.
He said Mr. Trump failed to make the case that Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan gang, fit that description. Although Mr. Trump highlighted the dangers the gang posed to the U.S., he didn’t make the case that it engaged in “an organized armed attack.”
“For these reasons, 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. Respondents do not possess the lawful authority under the AEA, and based on the proclamation, to detain Venezuelan aliens, transfer them within the United States, or remove them from the country,” ruled the judge, whom Mr. Trump appointed to the court in southern Texas.
Mr. Trump said he needed the Alien Enemies Act to speed up deportations of members of Tren de Aragua and MS-13. Both are transnational gangs that the government has designated as terrorist organizations.
The administration argues that the regular immigration law is too slow to handle such cases.
Mr. Trump’s opponents say he is short-circuiting critical due process rights in his deportation rush. That includes people whom the government has tied to the gangs based purely on tattoos or social media photos.
Judge Rodriguez’s ruling is confined to the U.S. judicial Southern District of Texas but is reverberating nationwide.
Other judges have hinted that Mr. Trump exceeded his powers, but Judge Rodriguez is the first to make that clear finding as a conclusion of law.
The Alien Enemies Act was part of the Alien and Sedition Acts, passed in the late 18th century as the U.S. worried about war with France. The act allows the president to immediately remove any noncitizen 14 or older from a country engaged in war or an “invasion or predatory incursion” against the U.S.
The Alien Enemies Act was used in connection with the War of 1812, World War I and World War II.
Mr. Trump argued that Tren de Aragua qualifies because it acts as an unofficial militia of Venezuela’s Maduro regime and its members, who streamed into the U.S. under the relaxed border policies of the Biden administration, have created mayhem nationwide.
In his 36-page ruling, Judge Rodriguez said Mr. Trump has wide latitude to operate under the Alien Enemies Act, but with some limits.
He said Mr. Trump has correctly argued that Venezuela controls Tren de Aragua but his invocation of the Alien Enemies Act did not prove that Tren de Aragua was part of an invasion or incursion.
“While the proclamation references that TdA members have harmed lives in the United States and engage in crime, the proclamation does not suggest that they have done so through an organized armed attack, or that Venezuela has threatened or attempted such an attack through TdA members,” the judge ruled. “As a result, the proclamation also falls short of describing a ‘predatory incursion’ as that concept was understood at the time of the AEA’s enactment.”
Judge Rodriguez also certified class-action status for Venezuelan migrants facing deportation in his region, allowing his ruling to apply beyond those who sued.
The judge named Lee Gelernt from the American Civil Liberties Union as the lead attorney for the class.
Mr. Gelernt, who also handled the premier “family separations” case against Mr. Trump in his first term, hailed the ruling Thursday as a “critically important” blow to the president.
“The court ruled the president can’t unilaterally declare an invasion of the United States and invoke a wartime authority during peacetime. Congress never meant for this 18th-century wartime law to be used this way,” he said.
Mr. Trump used the Alien Enemies Act to deport about 200 Venezuelans to El Salvador in March.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in the District of Columbia attempted to turn around the planes midair. Judge Boasberg is now pursuing a potential contempt case against the president’s team for refusing his directive.
The Supreme Court said those facing deportation under the Alien Enemies Act deserve an opportunity to challenge their removal through a habeas challenge, a narrow but powerful tool for objecting to government arrest and detention.
Courts nationwide have issued restraining orders blocking deportations under the Alien Enemies Act, though Judge Rodriguez’s reasoning is the most expansive.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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