WASHINGTON, DC – A US federal appeals court ruled Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) against President Donald Trump’s use of a wartime law to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members and blocked its use in some southern states.
Trump first invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act on March 15 and flew two planeloads of alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang to El Salvador’s notorious maximum security CECOT prison.
The centuries-old law — last used to round up Japanese-American citizens during World War II — has since been targeted in a series of legal challenges.
The Fifth US Circuit Court of Appeals delivered a 2-1 ruling on Tuesday saying Trump could not rely on the law to deport migrants in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. AFP
“We conclude that the findings do not support that an invasion or a predatory incursion has occurred,” wrote judge Leslie Southwick.
“We therefore conclude that petitioners are likely to prove that the AEA was improperly invoked.”
The Act allows the government to detain and deport citizens of hostile foreign nations in times of war or during an “invasion or predatory incursion.”
Southwick, with judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez concurring, granted a preliminary injunction blocking removal.
Judge Andrew Oldham dissented, saying it depended on “matters of political judgment” to determine whether AEA’s preconditions were met.
“From the dawn of our nation until President Trump took office a second time, courts have never second-guessed the President’s invocation of that Act,” Oldham wrote. AFP
