A US judge has blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from using an 18th-century wartime law to deport some Venezuelan migrants.
The judge ruled that the Trump administration exceeded the scope of the Alien Enemies Act by using it to speed up deportations of alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
The gang was labeled a terrorist organization by the government.
Trump’s mid-March proclamation invoking the 1798 law to justify rapid deportations faced multiple court challenges.
Judges in several states temporarily blocked the administration from deporting migrants detained in their districts under the Alien Enemies Act.
A Colorado judge ruled that the administration must give migrants at least 21 days to challenge their potential removals in court.
The judge permanently blocked the administration from deporting Venezuelans detained in the Southern District of Texas under the law.
He wrote that Tren de Aragua’s actions in the US did not amount to an “invasion” or “predatory incursion” that would justify using the law.
The judge’s district includes the detention facility from which at least 137 Venezuelan men were deported to El Salvador on March 15.
The White House spokesman said Trump’s election victory gave him a mandate to deport terrorist illegal aliens.
The Trump administration is committed to using every lever of power to deliver on this mandate and is confident it will ultimately prevail.