The court granted an emergency order blocking the potential deportation of Venezuelan detainees under wartime alien enemy law.
A federal judge ordered the Trump administration not to deport five Venezuelan citizens in a lawsuit filed before Trump issued the 1798 Alien Enemy Act.
Judge James Boasberg of the District of Columbia, citing “urgent circumstances” when granting the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other requests on March 15, citing the deportation of Venezuelan plaintiffs identified in the case.
The Boasberg order bans the deportation of five Venezuelan men accused of being members of the Tren de Aragua Transnational Criminal Gang for two weeks, but further legal proceedings will be underway.
Later that day, Trump issued a declaration calling for wartime law, claiming that Tren de Aragua is a foreign terrorist organization, with many of its members illegally infiltrating the United States, “engers in irregular wars and accepts hostile actions.”
The declaration also states that Tren de Aragua “convicted, attempted and threatened invasions or predatory invasions of the US territory,” and that gang members are “alien enemies” that pose a danger to the country. Trump also ordered all Tren de Aragua members to be arrested and deported immediately.
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The judge’s order to block deportation was entered before the Trump administration responded to the claim. The Justice Department, which represents the Trump administration in the incident, did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the Epoch era.
The declaration explicitly refers to the “aggression” that caused “wide-reaching confusion and suffering” in the United States, and also instructs Trump to take immediate action to address what he described as “current dangers and imminent threats” related to illegal immigration.
However, forwards to the ACLU and democracy claim that the United States has not faced invasions from foreign governments even during the war with Venezuela, so the potential use of the Trump administration’s alien enemy is to deport Venezuelan men.
“The anticipated ambiguity and breadth of the declaration, along with the government’s accidental process to condemn individuals’ relationship with Tren de Aragua, undoubtedly brings fear and uncertainty about the scope of the declaration, chilling immigration in everyday activities in the exercise of their fundamental constitutional rights.”
Furthermore, outside the context of actual or imminent war, the extraordinary and urgent calls of the defendant’s war power raises serious concerns about the unfair convened of the defendant’s war power and the broader stability of the US legal order,” they added.
Based on the request to block the plaintiff’s temporary restraining order from deportation, the judge noted that the group had met four factors necessary to grant preliminary relief. These are: A possible success with merit, an irreparable harm, a balance of stocks against the plaintiff’s favor, and an injunction in the public interest.
The judge had scheduled a videoconference hearing on March 17th.
Trump has repeatedly shown his intention to invoke actions to combat illegal immigrants, including his first speech on January 20th.
“As Commander-in-Chief, I have no higher responsibility than protecting our country from threats and invasions. That’s exactly what I’m trying to do, Trump added.
Since taking office, the president has taken decisive action in enforcing immigrants, including ordering federal agencies to take immediate action to combat and remove illegal immigrants across borders.
