Judge Blocks Deportation of 5 Venezuelans With Suspected Ties to Tren de Aragua Gang
A court has granted an emergency order blocking the potential deportation of Venezuelan detainees under the wartime Alien Enemies Act.
A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration not to deport five Venezuelan nationals in a lawsuit filed ahead of Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a rarely used law allowing for quick deportation of foreigners during times of war or invasion.
Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia entered a paperless order on March 15, citing “exigent circumstances” in granting a request by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and others to block the deportation of the Venezuelan plaintiffs identified in the case.
Boasberg’s order bars the deportation of the five Venezuelan men, accused of being members of the Tren de Aragua transnational criminal gang, for a period of two weeks, while further legal proceedings play out.
The lawsuit, filed early Saturday by the ACLU and Democracy Forward, preemptively challenged President Donald Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act, which would be used to justify the deportations of the five Venezuelan plaintiffs, who are currently detained in Texas.
Later in the day, Trump issued a proclamation invoking the wartime law, noting that Tren de Aragua is a Foreign Terrorist Organization and asserting that many of its members have unlawfully infiltrated the United States and are “conducting irregular warfare and undertaking hostile actions” against the country.
The proclamation also states that Tren de Aragua “is perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States,” and that the gang’s members are “alien enemies” posing a danger to the country. Trump also ordered all Tren de Aragua members to be immediately arrested and deported.

The ACLU and Democracy Forward contend in their memo in support of a request for a temporary restraining order that the plaintiffs have “compelling asylum claims” and that the administration wrongly classified them as “alien enemies” under the AEA [Alien Enemies Act]—a classification that allows them to be quickly deported if there’s a declared war or “any invasion or predatory incursion.”
The judge’s order blocking deportation was entered before the Trump administration had filed a response to the allegations. The Justice Department, which is representing the Trump administration in the case, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times.
In his first day back in office, Trump signed a proclamation declaring a national emergency at the southern border, claiming that “America’s sovereignty is under attack” from cartels, criminal gangs, human traffickers, and the illegal entry of aliens.
The proclamation explicitly refers to an “invasion” that has caused “widespread chaos and suffering” in the United States, while directing federal agencies to take immediate action to address what Trump described as a “present danger and imminent threat” associated with illegal immigration.
The ACLU and Democracy Forward contend, however, that the United States is neither at war with Venezuela nor facing an invasion from a foreign government, and so the Trump administration’s potential use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport the Venezuelan men is illegitimate.
“The vagueness and breadth of the expected Proclamation, along with the government’s haphazard process for accusing individuals of affiliation with Tren de Aragua, will undoubtedly result in fear and uncertainty about the Proclamation’s scope, and will chill immigrants in their day-to-day activities and the exercise of their basic constitutional rights,” the groups wrote in the motion.
“In addition, Defendants’ extraordinary and atextual invocation of a war power, outside of the context of an actual or imminent war, raises grave concerns about Defendants’ unjustified invocation of war powers more generally—and the broader stability of the United States’ legal order,” they added.
In siding with the plaintiffs’ request for a temporary restraining order blocking deportation, the judge noted that the groups had satisfied the four factors needed to grant preliminary relief. These are: likelihood of success on the merits, probability of suffering irreparable harm, the balance of equities tipping in the plaintiffs’ favor, and an injunction being in the public interest.
The judge scheduled a March 17 hearing by videoconference.
Arthur Spitzer, senior counsel at the ACLU of the District of Columbia, said in a statement that the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act would represent “yet another dangerous overreach by the administration, designed to support an unchecked mass deportation program, all while bypassing the necessary judicial review.”
Trump has repeatedly indicated his intention to invoke the act to combat illegal immigration, including during his Jan. 20 inaugural address.
“By invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, I will direct our government to use the full and immense power of federal and state law enforcement to eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks bringing devastating crime to U.S. soil, including our cities and inner cities,” he said.
“As commander in chief, I have no higher responsibility than to defend our country from threats and invasions, and that is exactly what I am going to do. We will do it at a level that nobody has ever seen before,” Trump added.
Since taking office, the president has acted decisively on immigration enforcement, including ordering federal agencies to take immediate action to repel and remove illegal immigrants who cross the border.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/...eyMeAHspy%2BR6sGI%3D

Trump needs to make it clear to the country that liberal judges are blocking the deportation of criminals. The American people are sick of democRAT policies to help these vermin- put it in the court of public opinion and make it clear just who supports what.

I think we are spending wat too much time and money being "Selective." If you cast a net, the really bad guys will get caught up with the other invaders. At some point they need to be deported in much greater numbers than the current rate. IMO

I had the unpleasant experience for taking NJ Transit from Long Branch, NJ TO Penn Station, NYC. Every trip, the Long Branch Station was all illegal aliens. Nothing but Spanish spoken. They show no concerns whatsoever about being here illegally and act like they are entitled to break our laws. I literally was the only American citizen boarding those trains. I renamed NJ Transit to "Illegal Alien Transport System." Thousands a day could be deported on our mass transit systems, alone.

In Manhattan, crossing a street is a fear of all the electric bikes and scooters that have no understanding or regard for the traffic laws. Again. stand at a mid-town street corner and you will get thousands.

Now, think about all the other cities in America, it is likely the same.

quote:

Originally posted by downtownv:
“compelling asylum claims”

Is it that they face arrest in their own country? Go figure.

quote:

Originally posted by cas:

quote:

Originally posted by downtownv:
“compelling asylum claims”

Is it that they face arrest in their own country? Go figure.

Certainly not our problem, and were they criminals in said country and escaped here? IDK and IDC.

Another Democratic liberal DC judge working against President Trump and the American people.

Lawfare

A decision at the appeal level is binding only in that circuit. What the judges in the 9th circuit rule on is not binding in the 4th circuit, etc. Similarly, no District judge should ever have any authority outside his own district.

Any ruling that has to be nationwide should be dealt with by just one court, the Supreme Court.

The Supremes don't have time to put up with frivolous, obviously unconstitutional claims, and would start slapping down the lawyers that bring them... leading to ...

The lawyers would stop taking on the unconstitutional claims, because who wants an ass chewing by the Supreme Court? Leading to ...

The Dems would run out of masochist lawyers to represent them. Leading to ...

The clearly unconstitutional claims would stop. Hey, I can dream, can't I?

Just a quick question, Does ACLU receive Federal money? If so, a few strokes of PDJT's sharpie could end a lot of resistance to his agenda. The drug dealers have enough money of their own to pay legal expenses. I cannot believe everything ACLU does is pro bono. (if that is the right term, not a lawyer and never played one in the movies)

Sounds like they should start deporting them before they have a chance to have a judge block it.

President Trump should ignore this ruling and all other rulings related to his duty under the Constitution to protect the states against invasion. The federal courts are a creation of Congress and have no authority over the president of the United States. The only court created under the Constitution is the US Supreme Court. If these plaintiffs don't like it, they can appeal the case all the way to the Supreme Court. It's not President Trump's responsibility to do so.

Judge James Boasberg is a familiar name from Trump's past, he was the presiding judge in the FISA court, a compromised group of judges who appointed Mary McCord in 2021 as Amici Curiae to "advise" the court on the surveillance of Trump. McCord is a key figure in the spying/phony FISA application, also in his impeachment. It is like hiring Al Capone to advise in the investigation of Al Capone Enterprises.

Boasberg is a deeply corrupt scumbag DC judge with seemingly no accountability and is allowed to run roughshod over anything he pleases.

Pam Bondi filed an emergency stay on Boasberg's ruling.

Trump should start rounding them up and throw them back over the border immediately. No holding centers, just take them before anyone notices. And stop concentrating on criminals, throw every illegal out, no matter where they're from or why they're here. This little trickle of criminals won't put a dent in the millions of people that have invaded this country.

^^^^^^^^^

It seems the Trump administration ignored the court order.

https://x.com/nayibbukele/stat...245427216978290?s=46

Didn't he sign an EO/statement just last week stating that he intended to ignore these rulings until the SCOTUS ruled on their constitutionality?

From the tweet/X-post:

quote:

Today, the first 238 members of the Venezuelan criminal organization, Tren de Aragua, arrived in our country.

That number is just the tip of the iceberg, a small fraction of those who are actually here.

Holy wall of words, Batman

Shouldn't we be letting these renegade judges accompany those they claim to care so much about?

quote:

Originally posted by downtownv:
I think we are spending wat too much time and money being "Selective." If you cast a net, the really bad guys will get caught up with the other invaders. At some point they need to be deported in much greater numbers than the current rate. IMO

I had the unpleasant experience for taking NJ Transit from Long Branch, NJ TO Penn Station, NYC. Every trip, the Long Branch Station was all illegal aliens. Nothing but Spanish spoken. They show no concerns whatsoever about being here illegally and act like they are entitled to break our laws. I literally was the only American citizen boarding those trains. I renamed NJ Transit to "Illegal Alien Transport System." Thousands a day could be deported on our mass transit systems, alone.

In Manhattan, crossing a street is a fear of all the electric bikes and scooters that have no understanding or regard for the traffic laws. Again. stand at a mid-town street corner and you will get thousands.

Now, think about all the other cities in America, it is likely the same.

Boy have times changed.
I grew up and lived till I was in my 30s on the Jersey Shore in Monmouth County not far from Long Branch and I don't ever remember it being like that, although I have been in Florida for the past 25 years.