WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — The Trump administration’s mass deportation plan has encountered legal resistance after judges in New York and Texas temporarily banned the removal of jailed Venezuelans under the Alien Enemies Act.
The judges ruled detainees accused of gang affiliations must be granted a hearing to prove otherwise before being deported.
As a result, certain Venezuelans currently detained in the southern district of New York — which includes the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx, and six counties north of the city — and a detention center in South Texas will remain in the United States while their cases proceed through the courts.
Both judges went beyond their cases, granting temporary protection from deportation for Venezuelan detainees in their jurisdictions from deportation under the act.
Alien Enemies Act shouldn’t be used: ACLU
Similar legal challenges are likely to follow in other areas in which Venezuelans have been detained.
The American Civil Liberties Union is asking the judges in Texas and New York to decide whether the administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act is lawful when the country is not at war.
“We are hoping this doesn’t come down to hundreds and hundreds of individual cases of people having to prove they’re not gang members because we don’t think the act during peacetime can be used at all,” said ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt.
The rulings align with Monday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision to allow the administration to resume deportation flights under the Alien Enemies Act, but only if detainees are granted due process.
President Donald Trump praised the ruling Wednesday, saying, “The Supreme Court just gave us numerous good rulings where we have to be able to get them out. You had other judges trying to take over the system. They want these people coming back, Tren de Aragua from the Venezuela jails.”
Wife of wrongly deported man pleads for help
One case highlighted by the Texas judge — who was appointed by Trump during his first presidential term — involves Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador due to an administrative error.
Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, is pleading for his return.
Democrats have vowed to press Salvadoran leaders for Abrego Garcia’s release.
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele is set to meet with Trump at the White House next week.
What is the Alien Enemies Act?
The Alien Enemies Act has been used three times in the past — during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II, when it was used to justify the mass internment of people of Japanese heritage while the U.S. was at war with Japan.
The U.S is not at war with Venezuela, but Trump has argued his country is being invaded by members of the Tren de Aragua gang.
U.S. immigration authorities have deported more than 100 people and sent them to a notorious prison in El Salvador without allowing them to challenge their removals in court.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
