A US judge issued a permanent injunction that prevented President Donald Trump from using the Alien Enemy Act (AEA) of 1798 to expel Venezuelans from South Texas.
Thursday’s ruling was the first of its kind and could possibly sue quickly.
A temporary order banning the use of government law follows as Trump calls for the rapid removal of undocumented immigrants from the country.
In his 36-page decision, U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. ruled that the Trump administration “exceeded the statutory boundaries” of the wartime alien enemy law.
On March 15, Trump had issued an enforcement declaration to invoke laws against members of Venezuela’s gangster Tren de Aragua. He argued that Tren de Aragua was “committing an invasion and predatory invasion of the United States,” thereby justifying such extreme measures.
In the end, the alien enemy laws have only been called three times recently during World War II.
However, Judge Rodriguez said the threat of Tren de Aragua far exceeded the standards required to use alien enemy laws, but he admitted that the gangs had participated in activities that “impossibly harmful to society.”
“The court concludes that [Tren de Aragua’s activities] For the purposes of the AEA, do not fall into the mediocre, ordinary meaning of “invasion” or “predatory invasion,” the judge wrote.
“The court concludes through the declaration that the President’s call to the AEA is beyond the scope of the law and, as a result, is illegal.”
Because the Trump administration “did not have legal authority under the AEA,” Judge Rodriguez ruled that the law could not be used “whether to detain Venezuelan aliens, transfer within the United States, or remove them from the country.”
Judge Rodriguez is a Trump-appointed judge who took on his current post based on his first term as a Republican leader in 2018. His decision applies to the Southern Texas district, including cities like Houston.
But it’s the most drastic ruling of its kind, but it joins a series of legal cases and court decisions considering the use of the Trump administration’s alien enemy law.
The law allows the US government to detain and enforce citizens of enemy countries during war or invasion. However, its use is highly controversial and critics call it unconstitutional.
Alien enemy laws were used, for example, as justifications to incarcerate tens of thousands of Japanese Americans and other foreigners in camps during World War II. The incident led the United States to formally apologize and provide compensation to Japanese-American survivors decades later.
Trump is considered to be the first president to invoke the action of non-war alien enemies. Using Nazivist rhetoric, he attempted to frame an undocumented migration to the United States as an “invasion” of undocumented criminals.
Since taking office in his second term, Trump has designated criminal groups like Tren de Aragua as foreign terrorist organizations. This makes non-citizen members unacceptable in the United States.
However, the Supreme Court ruled that foreigners are entitled to judicial review of their cases due to the removal carried out under the Foreign Enemy Act (PDF).
The lower courts also question whether the Trump administration’s use of alien enemy laws violated its legitimate process rights.
Examiners in Colorado, Manhattan and Pennsylvania have issued temporary injunctions for the use of the law, and in Washington, D.C., Judge James Boasberg oversaw a high-profile case in which under the law, three flashy El Salvador planes were sent to prison, despite the discrimination coefficient for their use.
Last month, Boasberg determined there was a “presumed cause” to emptiate the court and find the Trump administration for violating his orders. The hearing in that case continues, but Trump and his allies argue that Boasberg has stepped over his jurisdiction by obstructing foreign policy issues.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is one of the plaintiffs fighting the use of alien enemy law in courts, and praised Judge Rodriguez’s decision on Thursday.
“The court ruled that the president unilaterally declared an aggression on the United States and could not invoke wartime authority during peacetime,” ACLU lawyer Lee Gererund said in a statement. “Parliament never intended to use this 18th century wartime law in this way.”
Adriana Pinon, legal director of the ACLU’s Texas chapter, also framed the decision as a victory for immigrant rights.
“This permanent injunction is a critical victory to prevent illegal, unilateral enforcement actions that have been terrified throughout Texas, especially within the border community,” she said.
“Immigration has been an integral part of this state and the country, and it has always been. They are protected by US law and constitution.”
Top Democrats like Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer have also become heavier, calling Trump’s use of alien enemies unconstitutional.
“The Trump administration has patently broken the law and is trying to use alien enemy laws to deport people without legitimate procedures,” Schumer wrote on social media. “Americans refuse this. The courts are taking them on missions. We won’t stop fighting for the Constitution.”
The Trump administration is expected to appeal Thursday’s decision to the conservative court of New Orleans’ 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
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