The May 1 ruling by U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez, Jr., represents the first permanent injunction against using the 1798 Alien Enemies Act against immigrants who are alleged to be members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. The judge ruled that President Trump’s March 15 Executive Order is “unlawful.” Starting on the day that the Executive Order was issued, federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have made similar, but more preliminary rulings against the use of this 18th-century law. Judge Rodriguez was appointed by President Trump in 2018.
His 36-page ruling only applies to cases in the federal jurisdiction of the Southern District of Texas, which includes Brownsville, McAllen, and Houston, where it blocks any further deportations based on this presidential proclamation.
The ruling states, “While the Proclamation references that TdA members have 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. For these reasons, the Court concludes that the President’s invocation of the AEA through the Proclamation exceeds the scope of the statute and, as a result, is unlawful.” The Trump administration may appeal this decision to the notorious Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Section 1 of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 defines the conditions under which it may come into force. Males aged 14 and above can be detained and removed under this law “whenever there shall be a declared war between the United States and any foreign nation or government, or any invasion or predatory incursion shall be perpetrated, attempted, or threatened against the territory of the United States, by any foreign nation or government.” There is no “declared war,” nor has Venezuela, as a nation, perpetrated an “invasion” or “predatory incursion.”
