A federal appeals court ruled on Sept. 2 that President Donald Trump unlawfully invoked the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans he alleged were part of a criminal gang.
In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a preliminary injunction that blocked the Trump administration from removing a group of Venezuelans under the seldom-used 18th-century law. The 5th Circuit Court is the first federal appeals court to rule directly on a March 14 presidential proclamation invoking the 1798 law to justify rapid deportations.
Circuit Judge Leslie Southwick, writing for the two-judge majority, rejected the Trump administration's assertion that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua had engaged in a "predatory incursion" on U.S. soil. The Act gives the government expansive powers to detain and deport citizens of hostile foreign nations, but only in times of war, or during an "invasion or predatory incursion."
Southwick, appointed by former President George W. Bush, was joined by Circuit Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez, an appointee of President Joe Biden. Circuit Judge Andrew Oldham, a Trump appointee, dissented.
The Trump administration could ask the entire 5th Circuit to rehear the case. It is expected to eventually reach the Supreme Court.
