A federal appeals court panel ruled that President Donald Trump cannot use the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to accelerate deportations of people accused of membership in the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed the statute was not intended for use against gangs in peacetime. The administration deported designated members to a prison in El Salvador and argued courts could not order their release; over 250 deported migrants later returned to Venezuela. The court granted a preliminary injunction, finding no invasion or predatory incursion. The ruling was 2-1, with Judges Southwick and Ramirez in the majority.
A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, one of the most conservative federal appeals courts in the country, agreed with immigrant rights lawyers and lower court judges who argued the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 was not intended to be used against gangs like Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan group Trump targeted in his March invocation.
The administration deported people designated as Tren de Aragua members to a notorious prison in El Salvador where, it argued, U.S. courts could not order them freed. In a deal announced in July, more than 250 of the deported migrants returned to Venezuela. The Alien Enemies Act has only been used three times before in U.S. history, all during declared wars in the War of 1812 and the two World Wars.
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