A federal judge has issued a permanent injunction against the Trump administration from using the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) to deport Venezuelan gang members.
According to U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez, the invocation of the wartime act is “unlawful.”
“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. The Executive Branch has and will continue to rely on the Immigration and Nationality Act to remove aliens found to represent a danger to the country,” Rodriguez wrote. “The question that this lawsuit presents is whether the President can utilize a specific statute, the AEA, to detain and remove Venezuelan aliens who are members of TdA.”
“[T]he 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,” the order says. “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.”
President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act in March.
“I proclaim that all Venezuelan citizens 14 years of age or older who are members of TdA, are within the United States, and are not actually naturalized or lawful permanent residents of the United States are liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as Alien Enemies,” Trump’s proclamation targeting the gang Tren de Aragua read. “I further find and declare that all such members of TdA are, by virtue of their membership in that organization, chargeable with actual hostility against the United States and are therefore ineligible for the benefits of 50 U.S.C. 22. I further find and declare that all such members of TdA are a danger to the public peace or safety of the United States.”
