Judge Blocks Trump From Using Wartime Law For Deportations

• A federal judge has blocked President Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan immigrants for 14 days, citing legal concerns.
• Trump’s administration claimed the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua was waging “irregular warfare” against the U.S., justifying deportations under a wartime law from 1798.
• The ACLU and other rights groups filed a lawsuit challenging the move, with reports indicating deportation flights were in progress when the court intervened.

A federal judge has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump from invoking a centuries-old wartime law to carry out mass deportations of Venezuelan immigrants.

Trump had announced on Saturday that members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua were engaging in “irregular warfare” against the United States and declared he would use the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport them.

However, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg swiftly intervened, halting deportations under the proclamation for 14 days. According to reports, Boasberg ordered planes carrying deportees to turn back, citing concerns over the legality of Trump’s actions.

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The Alien Enemies Act, enacted in 1798, allows the government to detain and expel individuals from hostile nations during times of declared war, bypassing due process. It was most notoriously used to intern Japanese Americans during World War II.

Trump’s proclamation declared Tren de Aragua responsible for “perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion” on U.S. soil. His administration argued this qualified under the law’s provisions.

Judge Boasberg, however, questioned the legal basis, suggesting the terms “invasion” and “predatory incursion” historically apply to enemy nations, not criminal gangs.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other rights groups had already filed a lawsuit before the proclamation was issued, seeking to prevent its use. ACLU attorneys also claimed two planes carrying Venezuelan deportees were already airborne when the court intervened, though that has not been independently verified.

Trump’s proclamation could ultimately be reviewed by the Supreme Court as the legal battle escalates.

The move aligns with Trump’s campaign promises to tighten immigration policies. Since returning to office in January, he has taken aggressive steps to overhaul the U.S. immigration system and reduce illegal crossings.

Legal experts and rights advocates have condemned the order as unprecedented, arguing the Alien Enemies Act has only been used during officially declared wars—something only Congress can authorize.

Under Trump’s order, all Venezuelan nationals aged 14 or older who are not lawful residents and alleged to be part of Tren de Aragua would be “apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed” as enemy aliens.

However, Trump did not specify how authorities would identify individuals as gang members, and legal scholars argue that bypassing immigration law could allow deportations without solid proof of gang affiliation.

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Katherine Yon Ebright of the Brennan Centre for Justice noted Trump already possesses “ample authority” under existing immigration laws to deport gang members, adding that using the Alien Enemies Act appears to sidestep legal protections and due process.

“He wants to bypass any need to provide evidence or to convince a judge that someone is actually a gang member before deporting them,” she said.

“The only reason to invoke such a power is to try to enable sweeping detentions and deportations of Venezuelans based on their ancestry, not on any gang activity that could be proved in immigration proceedings.”

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