A US federal appeals court has shut down Donald Trump’s bid to invoke the centuries-old Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans suspected of gang activity as unlawful and outside presidential authority.
Fifth Circuit Strikes Down Trump’s Claim of “Invasion”
In a 2-1 decision, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a preliminary injunction against the Trump administration’s March proclamation. The proclamation had tried to invoke the 1798 law to expel purported members of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang.
Judge Leslie Southwick, author of the majority opinion, stated that there was no justification for Trump’s assertion of a “predatory incursion” on US territory, a need to invoke the law outside time of war. The Alien Enemies Act has been utilized only three times in US history in the War of 1812 and the two World Wars.
Legal Advocates Call It a “Victory for Rule of Law”
Civil rights attorneys and groups welcomed the decision as a vital curb on presidential power. The ACLU, which is representing the Venezuelans arrested in Texas, contended that the administration applied a law of war during times of peace to avoid judicial scrutiny.
Senior ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt stated, “The court correctly rejected the administration’s perception that it can declare an emergency without accountability. This is a vital check on our democracy.”
The Brennan Center for Justice and the Cato Institute also had their say, stating the law was never meant for peacetime enforcement of immigration. Katherine Yon Ebright of the Brennan Center called the ruling “a victory for checks and balances” and a rebuke to “baseless national security claims.”
Political and Community Pushback
Democrats, including Senator Dick Durbin, have hailed the ruling, emphasizing that Trump’s invocation of antique wartime laws endangered constitutional freedoms. Latino advocacy organizations like Voto Latino argued that attacking immigrant communities under those laws was both “unlawful and unjust.”
Maria Teresa Kumar of Voto Latino cautioned, “Policies like these erode due process and expand executive power without accountability. If unchecked, they could bleed into the rights of every American.”
The Trump administration can petition for a rehearing before the entire Fifth Circuit, but legal analysts predict the case will ultimately be decided by the US Supreme Court.
