BREAKING: Trump invokes wartime Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to speed up deportations

2MoreYears · 05:26 PM

Quote:

WASHINGTON -- Claiming the United States was being invaded by a Venezuelan gang, President Donald Trump on Saturday invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a sweeping war time authority that allows the president broader leeway on policy and executive action, to speed up mass deportations of people in the country illegally - potentially pushing his promised crackdown on immigration into higher gear.

Trump's declaration targets Tren de Aragua, contending it is a hostile force acting at the behest of Venezuela's government. The declaration comes the same day that a federal judge in Washington barred the administration from deporting five Venezuelans under the expected order, a hint at the legal battle brewing over Trump's move.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE.

AP's earlier story follows below.

A federal judge on Saturday blocked the Trump administration from using an 18th century law known as the Alien Enemies Act to deport five Venezuelans, kicking off a blizzard of litigation over the controversial move even before the president has announced it.

President Donald Trump has widely signaled he would invoke the 1798 Act, last used to justify the internment of Japanese-American civilians during World War 2.

On Saturday, the American Civil Liberties Union and Democracy Forward filed an extraordinary lawsuit in federal court in Washington contending the order would identify a Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, as a "predatory incursion" by a foreign government and seek to deport any Venezuelan in the country as a member of that gang, regardless of the facts.

James E. Boasberg, chief judge of the D.C. Circuit, agreed to implement a temporary restraining order preventing the deportation for 14 days under the act of the five Venezuelans who are already in immigration custody and believed they were being moved to be deported. Boasberg said his order was "to preserve the status quo." Boasberg scheduled a hearing for later in the afternoon to see if his order should be expanded to protect all Venezuelans in the United States.

Hours later, the Trump administration appealed the initial restraining order, contending that halting a presidential act before it has been announced would cripple the executive branch.

If the order were allowed to stand, "district courts would have license to enjoin virtually any urgent national-security action just upon receipt of a complaint," the Justice Department wrote in its appeal.

It said district courts might then issue temporary restraining orders on actions such as drone strikes, sensitive intelligence operations, or terrorist captures or extraditions. The court "should halt that path in its tracks," the department argued.

The unusual flurry of litigation highlights the controversy around the Alien Enemies Act, which could give Trump vast power to deport people in the country illegally. It could let him bypass some protections of normal criminal and immigration law. But it would face immediate challenges along the lines of Saturday's litigation because it has previously only been used during wartime.

The law requires a formal declaration of war before it can be used. But immigration lawyers were alarmed by a flurry of activity Friday night.

"Last night, it appears the government was preparing to deport a number of Venezuelans they had no legal authority to deport," said Ahilan Arulanantham, an immigration lawyer in Los Angeles who filed two petitions to block deportations that night.

https://abc7.com/post/president-dona...ions/16028956/

beingoflight · 03-15-2025, 10:28 PM

UPDATE: it just got blocked by an Obama appointed judge, orders flights in the air to turn back if there were any:

https://www.npr.org/2025/03/15/nx-s1...ua-deportation

beingoflight · 02:21 AM

https://www.npr.org/2025/03/15/nx-s1...ua-deportation

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg issued an order hours after Trump invoked the wartime power stopping the administration from using it to deport anyone, adding that the administration should turn planes already in the air around.

Earlier in the day, in a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and Democracy Forward, Boasberg had blocked the administration from deporting five Venezuelan men for 14 days. Another hearing on the matter will take place Friday.

leo86 · 03-15-2025, 11:13 PM

there's way too much going on for an administration that literally started 2 months ago. Yuck , I'm starting to miss Biden presidency's un-eventfulness. Gross.

Nameless Bureaucrat '28.
"Because this country runs best on Autopilot."

Swim19 · 03-16-2025, 03:18 PM

Well, we knew this would happen eventually. Trump ignores judge order:

Quote:

Planes carrying more than 200 Venezuelans deported by the US have landed in El Salvador, hours after a US judge ordered the Trump administration not to do so.

El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele, wrote on social media that 238 members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua had arrived, along with 23 members of the international MS-13 gang, on Sunday morning.

Their arrival in the central American nation came after a federal judge blocked US President Donald Trump from invoking a centuries-old wartime law to justify the deportations - something Bukele made fun of in a later post.

"Oopsie... Too late," he said.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp...qbUQzC5DBezHyA

DogJuiceMan · 03-16-2025, 05:44 PM

Does this mean a future democrat president can do whatever they please? Seems like ignoring the courts is quickly becoming a viable strategy.

carnivore · 03-16-2025, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Swim19

Well, we knew this would happen eventually. Trump ignores judge order:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp...qbUQzC5DBezHyA

Sentencing people without judgement with oopsies and emojis.

DogJuiceMan · 03-16-2025, 08:32 PM

Apparently we are now in full blown constitutional crisis because who will enforce a judge's order? Apparently the US marshals are supposed to do it, but the marshals are under control of the executive branch and now his supporters are trying to get the judge impeached but they cant because the senate won't have 2/3rds unless Schumer gives the game away again.

Sorrybrah · 03-17-2025, 09:49 AM

I wouldn’t be surprised if chucky succumbs again. At this point Trump is winning way too much.

IamAman · 03-17-2025, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DogJuiceMan

Does this mean a future democrat president can do whatever they please? Seems like ignoring the courts is quickly becoming a viable strategy.

If Democrats had backbone yes, but they were afraid of offending the Senate Parliamentarian who could have been fired by them so they'll probably just hold a speech about how "when they go low, we go high".

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BREAKING: Trump invokes wartime Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to speed up deportations