Appeals court upholds order stopping deportations under Alien Enemies Act
A federal appeals court rejected an effort by the Justice Department to lift an order temporarily blocking President Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged Tren de Aragua gang members.
In a 2-1 decision, a Washington, D.C., Circuit Court of Appeals panel sided with the plaintiffs who are suing to block their deportation and any alleged Tren de Aragua gang members whom the administration seeks to deport under the Alien Enemies Act.
On Monday, the panel heard arguments from the Justice Department and the ACLU over the lower court's order temporarily stopping the government from deportations under the Alien Enemies Act. The ACLU argued for the plaintiffs, five Venezuelan men seeking to block their deportation,
D.C. District Chief Judge James Boasberg issued a temporary restraining order that pauses the deportations under the act but still allows the Trump administration to detain alleged Tren de Aragua gang members. Boasberg's order also does not prevent the government from deporting these alleged gang members or others under other existing immigration laws.
Judges Karen LeCraft Henderson and Patricia Millett both ruled in favor of upholding Boasberg's temporary relief. Judge Justin Walker, a Trump appointee, issued a dissenting opinion in favor of the Justice Department.
Judge Henderson, a Reagan-appointed judge, wrote in her opinion that despite the government's arguments that Boasberg's temporary restraining order limited President Trump's Article II power in dealing with counterterrorism and foreign relations, other avenues remain available to remove alleged Venezuelan gang members.
"[T]he President may arrest and detain purported enemy aliens under the Proclamation without violating that order," she wrote, adding Trump "can tap his substantial authorities under the [Immigration and Nationality Act" to do so.
Judge Millett, who was appointed to the circuit by President Obama, wrote that "in the government's view, based on its allegation alone, Plaintiffs can be removed immediately with no notice, no hearing, no opportunity—zero process—to show that they are not members of the gang, to contest their eligibility for removal under the law, or to invoke legal protections against being sent to a place where it appears likely they will be tortured and their lives endangered."
She also indicated that the government's appeal was filed too early in the adjudication of the case.
"There is neither jurisdiction nor reason for this court to interfere at this very preliminary stage or to allow the government to singlehandedly moot the Plaintiffs' claims by immediately removing them beyond the reach of their lawyers or the court," she wrote.
Millett was the most critical of the Justice Department's actions in Monday's arguments, going as far as to saying that Nazis deported under the AEA during World War II had more rights than the over 150 alleged Tren de Aragua gang members deported by the Trump administration last week.
In his dissenting opinion siding with the Justice Department, Judge Walker agreed with the Trump administration's arguments that the case should have been filed in Texas, where the plaintiffs are allegedly being held.
"The problem for the Plaintiffs is that habeas claims must be brought in the district where the Plaintiffs are confined. For the named Plaintiffs at least, that is the Southern District of Texas," Walker wrote.
A White House spokesperson said the White House intends to appeal the circuit court's ruling to the Supreme Court, and called the panel's order a "failure to stay the radical decision of the District Court," that should "shock the conscience of the American people."
Meanwhile, Judge Boasberg will continue to oversee the case in federal district court.
On Monday, the administration invoked a state secrets privilege and refused to give Boasberg any additional information about the deportations after he asked for details about why the White House did not obey his order to return two planes carrying alleged Tren de Aragua gang members back to the U.S..
In a 14-page document filed late Tuesday night, top Justice Department officials, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, responded to Boasberg's questions about why the government didn't turn around the two flights.
"These removals both complied with the law and safeguarded Americans against members of a foreign terrorist organization. The Government will continue to defend the removals before this Court and, if necessary, on appeal challenging this Court's two injunctions issued on March 15," Bondi and other senior Justice Department officials wrote.
The plaintiffs have until Friday night to respond to the government.
