A federal judge on Thursday issued a permanent injunction and barred the Trump Administration from using the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) to remove Venezuelan gang members and transport them to El Salvador.
US District Judge Fernando Rodriguez, a Trump appointee, called the President’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act “unlawful.”
According to Judge Rodriguez, the AEA only applies when the US is at war and under an armed attack.
“The Proclamation exceeds the scope of the statute and, as a result, is unlawful,” Judge Rodriguez said, according to Politico. “[Administration officials] 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.”
7/ Court enjoins Trump Administration by finding Alien Enemies Act (AEA) does not provide basis for removal under circumstances stated in injunction. In footnote, court addresses some other issues too. pic.twitter.com/1wuGJ4CefQ
— Margot Cleveland (@ProfMJCleveland) May 1, 2025
AP reported:
A federal judge on Thursday barred the Trump administration from deporting any Venezuelans from South Texas under an 18th-century wartime law.
U.S. District Court Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. is the first judge to rule that the Alien Enemies Act cannot be used against people who the Republican administration claims are gang members invading the United States.
“Neither the Court nor the parties question that the Executive Branch can direct the detention and removal of aliens who engage in criminal activity in the United States,” wrote Rodriguez. But, he said, “the President’s invocation of the AEA through the Proclamation exceeds the scope of the statute and is contrary to the plain, ordinary meaning of the statute’s terms.”
Last week another federal judge in Texas halted the deportation of suspected Tren de Aragua gang members under the Alien Enemies Act.
US District Judge David Briones, a Clinton appointee, on Friday ordered the release of two suspected TdA members. The judge admonished DOJ lawyers and said they “have not demonstrated they have any lawful basis” to keep the couple detained.
The couple, Julio Cesar Sanchez Puentes and Luddis Norelia Sanchez Garcia, arrived in the US from Mexico in 2022 and were granted temporary protected status (TPS) by the Biden Regime. President Trump terminated the TPS program, and the couple was arrested earlier this month at the El Paso airport.
“There is no doubt the Executive Branch’s unprecedented peacetime use of wartime power has caused chaos and uncertainty for individual petitions as well as the judicial branch in how to manage and evaluate the Executive’s claims of Tren de Aragua membership, and the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act as a whole,” Judge Briones wrote, according to The Associated Press.
“There is no doubt the Executive Branch’s unprecedented peacetime use of wartime power has caused chaos and uncertainty for individual petitions as well as the judicial branch in how to manage and evaluate the Executive’s claims of Tren de Aragua membership, and the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act as a whole,” Judge Briones wrote, according to The Associated Press.
Judge Briones’ ruling applies to all illegal aliens facing deportation under the Alien Enemies Act in his Texas judicial district.
Other federal judges in New York, Colorado, and South Texas have issued similar rulings.
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