President Donald Trump issued a proclamation on March 15 invoking the Alien Enemies Act and declaring that Tren de Aragua is “a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization” aligned with the Venezuelan Maduro regime that “is perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States.”
“I proclaim that all Venezuelan citizens 14 years of age or older who are members of TdA, are within the United States, and are not actually naturalized or lawful permanent residents of the United States are liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as Alien Enemies,” added Trump.
A federal judge ruled Thursday that President Donald Trump’s invocation of the AEA through the proclamation was “unlawful” and barred the Trump administration from using it against Venezuelan aliens in the court’s judicial district.
The administration deported at least 137 Venezuelan aliens under the law on March 15.
‘The Proclamation does not suggest that they have done so through an organized armed attack.’
While claiming at the outset that neither “the Court nor the parties question the Executive Branch’s authority and responsibility to enforce federal laws,” U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. appears to have done just that.
The judge indicated that Trump’s March 15 proclamation satisfactorily placed responsibility for Tren de Aragua’s actions in the U.S. on the Venezuelan government — precluding the need to determine whether the terrorist gang represents a foreign nation or government. Rodriguez noted, however, that the activities of the terrorist gang inside the U.S. “do not fall within the plain, ordinary meaning of ‘invasion’ or ‘predatory incursion’ for the purposes of the AEA.”
While Tren de Aragua terrorists might have illegally entered the nation, “harmed lives in the United States and engage in crime, the Proclamation does not suggest that they have done so through an organized armed attack, or that Venezuela has threatened or attempted such an attack through TdA members,” wrote the judge.
Rodriguez concluded that “the historical record renders clear that the President’s invocation of the AEA through the Proclamation exceeds the scope of the statute and is contrary to the plain, ordinary meaning of the statute’s claims.”
While numerous courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have blocked the Trump administration’s deportations under the AEA, Rodriguez is reportedly the first judge to have reached a final decision on the merits.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which brought the lawsuit with the ACLU of Texas to keep suspected foreign terrorists from being deported, celebrated the decision.
ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt said in a statement, “Congress never meant for this 18th-century wartime law to be used this way. This is a critically important decision that prevents more people from being sent to the notorious CECOT prison.”
Reuters indicated that neither the White House nor the Department of Justice responded to its requests for comment.
On Thursday, Rodriguez also allowed Venezuelans targeted for deportation under the AEA to proceed with a class-action lawsuit against the Trump administration, reported WFIN.com.
“The unusual circumstances of this case present a compelling justification to utilize a procedure equivalent to a class action authorized by Rule 23,” wrote Rodriguez.
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