A federal judge temporarily blocked President Trump on Saturday from using the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act to deport suspected Venezuelan gang members without a hearing, ordering any flights transporting the alleged criminals to be turned back.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered the Trump administration to suspend all deportations after the president approved a directive invoking the 1798 law, which was intended to target the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua, The Washington Post reported. The chief judge in the District of Columbia said he heard that "flights are actively departing" and ordered U.S. officials to ensure that any planes already in the air carrying migrants return to the US.
Roadblock for Trump
"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 reportedly wrote. "Make sure it's complied with immediately."
The temporary ruling imposes a 14-day restraining order on the use of the wartime act, which the Trump administration aims to use for deporting migrants identified as gang members without going through standard criminal and immigration procedures.
A new hearing is set for Friday, during which the deportations carried out under the Alien Enemies Act will remain on hold.
"I do not believe I can wait any longer and am required to act," Boasber said during a hearing Saturday night.
"A brief delay in their removal does not cause the government any harm," he said, noting that the detainees will remain in government custody.
Boasberg's decision came in response to a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and Democracy Forward, which challenged the deportation of five Venezuelan men under the centuries-old law, reportedly signed on Friday.
Prior to the evening ruling that blocked the law's enforcement, an emergency hearing took place on Saturday morning. During the session, the judge temporarily halted the deportation of the five migrants named in the lawsuit—a decision the Trump administration has already appealed.
Trump Admin Not to Sit Back
The Alien Enemies Act has been invoked only three times in U.S. history, each instance occurring during wartime. The last president to use it was Franklin D. Roosevelt, who applied the law following the attack on Pearl Harbor, which led to the United States entering World War II.
The Democratic administration at the time used the act to justify the internment of individuals of Japanese, German, and Italian descent.
However, Trump's proclamation argues that the gang is essentially engaged in warfare against the United States, claiming that Venezuelan nationals are now "liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removal as Alien Enemies."
"Over the years, Venezuelan national and local authorities have ceded ever-greater control over their territories to transnational criminal organizations, including TdA," Trump's statement reads.
"The result is a hybrid criminal state that is perpetrating an invasion of a predatory incursion into the United States, and which poses a substantial danger to the United States."
Tren de Aragua originated within a Venezuelan prison and has since expanded its influence.
Members of the violent gang are believed to have merged with the millions of Venezuelans who have fled the country over the past decade in search of a fresh start in the United States.
Trump has pointed to the gang's criminal activities as justification for his push to strengthen border security. According to the White House, 300 people currently in U.S. custody have been identified as members of the gang and may soon face deportation to El Salvador.
