Federal Judge Blocks Trump’s Use Of Alien Enemies Act To Deport Venezuelan Migrants

 

A federal judge in Texas has ruled that former President Donald Trump unlawfully invoked the Alien Enemies Act to fast-track the deportation of certain Venezuelan migrants accused of gang affiliation, delivering a significant legal blow to the administration's immigration strategy.

U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez, appointed during Trump’s presidency and serving in the Southern District of Texas, concluded that the Alien Enemies Act — an 18th-century wartime statute — was improperly applied to detain or deport alleged members of the Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua.

The ruling prevents federal authorities from using the act to remove or relocate individuals under its provisions within Rodriguez’s jurisdiction. In his written opinion, the judge emphasized that the administration lacked legal authority to invoke the law under current circumstances.

“The administration does 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,” Rodriguez stated.

He further warned that allowing the president to define and declare the conditions necessary to activate the statute “would remove all limitations to the Executive Branch’s authority” and undermine the judiciary’s role in interpreting the scope of Congressional statutes.

The Alien Enemies Act, part of a series of laws originally passed in 1798, allows the U.S. government to detain or deport nationals of enemy countries during times of declared war or conflict. Rodriguez’s ruling marks the first definitive judgment on whether it can be used during peacetime — a question that had not previously been resolved in litigation, despite multiple legal challenges and temporary injunctions in other courts.

Civil rights groups involved in the legal challenge praised the decision. Lee Gelernt, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, called the ruling a landmark moment. “This is the first court to squarely rule on the fundamental question of whether a wartime authority can be used during peacetime and properly concluded it cannot,” he said.

The plaintiffs in the case, a group of Venezuelan migrants, had narrowly avoided being deported to El Salvador earlier this year under the act. Two U.S. government-chartered flights in March had transferred other migrants to the notorious CECOT prison in El Salvador, sparking widespread concern from human rights advocates.

While Rodriguez's decision halts use of the Alien Enemies Act for these deportations, he noted that other existing immigration laws could still be applied in processing the individuals involved. The Venezuelan plaintiffs remain in custody at a detention facility in southern Texas as the legal proceedings continue.