A federal appeals court on Tuesday blocked President Trump from using the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan immigrants, ruling that the wartime law was improperly invoked.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, said Trump cannot apply the 1798 statute in Texas, Louisiana, or Mississippi. The judges rejected his claim that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua posed a “predatory incursion” or invasion, finding no evidence to justify the emergency powers. Judge Leslie Southwick wrote that immigrants challenging the policy “are likely to succeed in demonstrating that the proclamation cannot be supported either by the existence of a declared war or an invasion.”
Trump last used the law in mid-March, when its invocation triggered a series of legal challenges. The case first reached the Supreme Court on an emergency basis in May. While the justices allowed Trump to continue relying on the law temporarily, they required that immigrants targeted under it receive notice and a chance to challenge deportation in court.
The Fifth Circuit concluded that the government’s seven-day notice policy met that standard, but Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez dissented in part, arguing that “at least twenty-one days’ notice is required” to ensure due process, especially for unrepresented detainees.
Tuesday’s decision is expected to set up a broader Supreme Court review of Trump’s authority to use the Alien Enemies Act for deportations.
