A federal judge has intervened to prevent President Donald Trump from invoking a 227-year-old law designed for wartime protections to execute mass deportations of Venezuelans.
On Saturday, Trump asserted that immigrants affiliated with the Venezuelan crime gang Tren de Aragua were engaging in “irregular warfare” against the United States, announcing his intention to deport them under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
US District Judge James Boasberg issued an order on Saturday evening to suspend deportations related to the proclamation. As reported by various media outlets, this decision will remain in effect for 14 days.
During a recent hearing, Judge Boasberg stated that he had received reports of planes carrying deportees taking off and subsequently ordered them to be turned back, according to the Washington Post.
US law permits the detention and removal of individuals deemed a threat to national security during wartime, bypassing the traditional requirements of due process. The measure was last enacted to detain individuals of Japanese ancestry during the Second World War.
On Saturday, Trump made a notable proclamation, asserting that Tren de Aragua was “perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States.” The announcement drew little surprise among observers.
During last year’s campaign, he committed to implementing the contentious law aimed at facilitating mass deportations.
Before the proclamation was issued on Saturday, the American Civil Liberties Union and other rights organisations had already filed a lawsuit to prevent its implementation.
During a recent hearing, the judge remarked that the terms “invasion” and “predatory incursion” as outlined in the law “essentially pertain to hostile acts carried out by enemy nations.” He suggested that the law may not provide a solid foundation for Trump’s proclamation, as the New York Times reported.
A lawyer from the ACLU informed the New York Times that he suspected two planes carrying Venezuelan immigrants were in the air on Sunday. The BBC has yet to confirm the accuracy of that report.
The legal proceedings are set to advance, potentially reaching the Supreme Court as the case unfolds.
The recent proclamation and the surrounding debate are expected to galvanise Trump’s base, which played a crucial role in his return to the White House, driven by his commitments to address illegal immigration and reduce the costs of everyday items. Since his inauguration in January, he has rapidly initiated efforts to reform the US immigration system.
Rights organisations and specific legal experts are describing the invocation as unprecedented, highlighting that the Alien Enemies Act has historically been employed following the United States’ official declarations of war against other nations. According to the Constitution, the authority to declare war rests solely with Congress.
Under a directive issued by former President Trump, all Venezuelan citizens residing in the United States who are at least 14 years old and affiliated with Tren de Aragua and who do not possess naturalised or lawful permanent resident status were to be “apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as Alien Enemies.”
In the proclamation, Trump failed to specify the criteria that US officials would use to identify individuals as members of the violent, transnational gang.
Katherine Yon Ebright, counsel at the Brennan Centre for Justice, stated that by utilising this law, Trump would circumvent the need to demonstrate that detainees are affiliated with Tren de Aragua, despite existing immigration laws that already provide him with “ample authority” to deport members of the gang.
“She stated that he aims to eliminate the requirement to present evidence or persuade a judge of an individual’s gang affiliation before their deportation.”
“The invocation of such power appears aimed at facilitating broad detentions and deportations of Venezuelans based solely on their ancestry, rather than any demonstrable gang activity that could be substantiated in immigration proceedings.”
