Trump's use of Alien Enemies Act for swift deportations is illegal, Trump-appointed judge rules

[In It to Win It]

President Donald Trump’s invocation of a wartime power to summarily deport Venezuelan nationals to El Salvador was “unlawful,” a federal judge ruled Thursday, blocking the administration from further deportations under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.

The decision from U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez, Jr., a Trump appointee, is the latest sharp rebuke to one of Trump’s most aggressive and high-profile efforts to quickly carry out deportations with little or no due process.

Rodriguez said Trump had improperly invoked the law — which gives the president the power to quickly expel nationals of invading countries — to target alleged members of a Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua.

The Alien Enemies Act applies only when the country is facing an armed, organized attack, Rodriguez ruled. Trump’s claims about Tren de Aragua’s activities in the United States fall short of that bar, the judge added.

The act had been invoked just three times in U.S. history before Trump issued a proclamation last month deploying it against Tren de Aragua.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/01/trump-deportations-court-ruling-00321455

[Deuxcents]

1. Then bring em back..all of them and then proceed with the evidence and due process and do it right

[rich7862]

2. I am with you, these monsters in congress are ignoring us.

We need to remove anyone in congress that is not defending and for our democracy.

[Iamscrewed]

3. Impeach

Continuing violations of the oath of office require the appropriate repercussions or revolution. France got it right once.

[Deuxcents]

4. Once by the guillotine and not long ago, locked up their former president, Nicolas Sarcozy for corruption.

In 2021, he was found guilty of trying to bribe a judge in 2014 concerning campaign funds during his re-election. He got a sweet deal but he was convicted and served 6 months in jail

[UTUSN]

5. Hmmm, a Spanish named judge, will serve him well in El Salvador!

[LetMyPeopleVote]

6. Deadline: Legal Blog---Trump-appointed judge calls Trump's Alien Enemies Act invocation 'unlawful'

The Texas judge’s ruling is significant because it dealt head-on with the merits of the wartime law. It’s not the last word on the issue.
https://bsky.app/profile/photoframd.bsky.social/post/3lo5gx4mso22b

Trump-appointed judge calls Trump’s Alien Enemies Act invocation ‘unlawful’. The Texas judge’s ruling is significant because it dealt head-on with the merits of the wartime law.

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/alien-enemies-act-invocation-unlawful-rcna204232

President Donald Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act has faced intense preliminary litigation in courts around the country, leading to rulings such as the Supreme Court’s insistence that people potentially subject to the act must receive due process. But a new and significant ruling from a Trump-appointed judge on Thursday gets to the heart of the matter, deeming the president’s invocation itself “unlawful.”

The 1798 act was previously used only during declared wars. The text of the act says it’s for “[w]henever there is a declared war between the United States and any foreign nation or government, or any invasion or predatory incursion is perpetrated, attempted or threatened against the territory of the United States by any foreign nation or government.”.....

The Trump appointee reviewed the historical record from the time of the act’s passage and found that the terms “invasion” or “predatory incursion” are meant to refer to “an organized, armed force entering the United States to engage in conduct destructive of property and human life in a specific geographical area.” Applying that background to Trump’s proclamation, the judge said TdA’s activities as described in the proclamation don’t qualify under the act.

While this is just one ruling from one (Trump-appointed) judge in one district, it shows the difficulty the administration could face in ultimately prevailing before the Supreme Court on the merits of the issue. Other trial and appellate court judges around the country could also favorably cite Rodriguez’s ruling if they agree with it, though they wouldn’t be bound by it. Trial judges are bound by appellate rulings in their circuits, and all judges are bound by the Supreme Court. Rodriguez sits in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the most conservative circuit, which would typically be the next step on the appellate chain if the government chooses to challenge the ruling.

In any event, Rodriguez’s decision doesn’t prevent the administration from using normal immigration authorities outside the rarely used act to carry out deportations.

The new ruling also underscores the illegality of the administration having already summarily removed people to El Salvador under the act and deposited them into a notorious prison there. Lawyers are also pressing to get them returned to the United States. And the ruling comes as the administration fights against returning Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran native who was also illegally deported to that country (albeit not under the Alien Enemies invocation).

The invocation of the Alien Enemies Act is not supported by the law and I am shocked that it has taken this long for a court to rule on this act. I saw that trump is appealing directly to SCOTUS and by passing the 5th Circuit. This will be fun to watch.