U.S. District Court Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. ruled on Thursday that President Donald Trump and his administration could not use the Alien Enemies Act to uphold the deportations of Venezuelan nationals to El Salvador.
Rodriguez stated that the Act — first enacted in 1798 — did not apply unless the United States was facing an “armed, organized attack,” and argued that the influx of illegal alien gang members and terrorists did not meet that particular qualification.
“The Proclamation exceeds the scope of the statute and, as a result, is unlawful. [Administration officials] do not possess the lawful authority under the AEA, and based on the Proclamation, to detain Venezuelan aliens, transfer them within the United States, or remove them from the country,” he wrote in his decision.
The Trump administration argued that Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua, a “designated…
