WASHINGTON — On Saturday, a federal judge prevented the Trump administration from proceeding with deportations under a broad 18th-century law. President Trump had invoked the law earlier that day to expedite the removal of Venezuelan gang members from the U.S.
U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg explained his immediate order was necessary because the government was already transporting migrants, claimed to be newly deportable under President Trump’s proclamation, to El Salvador and Honduras for incarceration. El Salvador had already agreed earlier in the week to accept up to 300 migrants identified by the Trump administration as gang members.
“I feel compelled to act without further delay,” Boasberg stated during a Saturday evening hearing for a lawsuit filed by the ACLU and Democracy Forward. He added, “A short delay in their removal does not harm the government,” while noting they remain in custody. He ordered any planes currently airborne to turn back.
The ruling followed Trump’s claim that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua was invading the U.S. He invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which grants the president expanded authority during wartime to accelerate mass deportations through policy and executive action.
The act has been used only three times previously, all during wartime. The most recent instance was during World War II, leading to the incarceration of Germans and Italians, as well as the mass internment of Japanese-American civilians.
In a proclamation issued just over an hour before Boasberg’s hearing, Trump argued that Tren de Aragua was effectively at war with the United States.
“Over time, Venezuelan national and local authorities have increasingly relinquished control of their territories to transnational criminal organizations, including TdA,” Trump’s statement read. “This has resulted in a hybrid criminal state engaged in an invasion and predatory incursion into the United States, posing a significant danger to the country.”
The order could allow the administration to deport any migrant identified as a gang member without standard immigration procedures, and potentially remove other legal protections for those targeted.
Attorney General Pam Bondi criticized Boasberg’s halt on deportations in a Saturday night statement. “This order ignores established precedent regarding President Trump’s authority and endangers the public and law enforcement,” Bondi said.
The Tren de Aragua gang originated in a Venezuelan prison and has accompanied the exodus of millions of Venezuelans, most of whom were seeking better living conditions after their nation’s economy collapsed in the last decade. Trump and his allies have portrayed the gang as the primary threat posed by immigrants residing in the U.S. illegally and officially designated it a “foreign terrorist organization” last month.
Authorities in several countries have reported arrests of Tren de Aragua members, despite claims from Venezuela’s government that the organization has been eliminated.
The government indicated that Trump actually signed the proclamation on Friday night. Immigration lawyers, noticing the federal government’s sudden move to deport Venezuelans who would not normally be subject to expulsion, quickly filed lawsuits to prevent what they believed was an imminent proclamation.
Boasberg initially ordered a block at 9:20 a.m. Saturday, preventing the Trump administration from deporting five Venezuelan plaintiffs in the ACLU suit who were detained and believed to be facing deportation. The Trump administration appealed this order, arguing that halting a presidential act before its announcement would undermine the executive branch.
The Justice Department argued in its appeal that, if the order were allowed, “district courts would be able to enjoin virtually any urgent national-security action upon receipt of a complaint.”
Boasberg then scheduled the afternoon hearing to consider expanding his order to cover all individuals potentially targeted under Trump’s declaration.
Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign asserted that the president has considerable discretion to identify threats and act under the 1798 law. He pointed out that the U.S. Supreme Court allowed President Harry Truman to continue holding a German citizen in 1948, three years after World War II, under the same law.
“An injunction would significantly curtail the president’s prerogatives,” Ensign stated.
However, Lee Gelernt of the ACLU argued that Trump lacked the authority to apply the law to a criminal gang rather than a recognized state. Boasberg noted that precedent on the matter appeared complex but that the ACLU had a reasonable chance of success, justifying the order.
Boasberg suspended deportations for those in custody for up to 14 days and scheduled a hearing for the case on Friday.
This flurry of legal action highlights the significance of Trump’s declaration, the latest in the administration’s efforts to expand presidential power. Ensign argued that, in response to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, Congress empowered the president to treat “transnational” organizations as threats comparable to recognized states. Gelernt cautioned that the Trump administration could easily issue a new proclamation to employ the Alien Enemies Act against another migrant gang, such as MS-13, a frequent target of Trump.
—Associated Press writer Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report.
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