Today, a federal judge temporarily blocked President Trump’s use of the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act, preventing the swift deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members without a hearing. The judge instructed that any flights carrying these individuals should turn around and return to the United States.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg issued a quick order halting all deportations after President Trump authorized a presidential action invoking the 1798 law, which specifically targeted the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua, according to The Washington Post.
The judge, overseeing the District of Columbia, noted that he had been informed that “flights are actively departing” and ordered U.S. officials to recall any planes in the air that were transporting migrants back to the United States. The judge reportedly wrote, “Any plane containing these folks that is going to take off or is in the air needs to be returned to the United States however that is accomplished. Make sure it’s complied with immediately.”
This temporary ruling imposed a 14-day restraining order on the enforcement of the Alien Enemies Act.
Trump’s executive order argued that Venezuelan nationals are now “liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as Alien Enemies.”
In January, Trump signed an executive order designating the Tren de Aragua gang as a foreign terrorist organization, paving the way for immigration authorities to begin detaining and removing its members.
Boasberg’s decision came in response to a lawsuit filed by civil rights groups challenging Trump’s wartime use of the act, which had been invoked just four times previously. The last president to use it was Franklin D. Roosevelt, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, which led the U.S. into World War II.
{Matzav.com}The post Federal Judge Blocks Deportation Flights, Prevents Trump from Using Alien Enemies Act first appeared on Matzav.com.