Appeals Court Rejects President Trump’s Invocation of Alien Enemies Act to Deport Venezuelan Illegals

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday evening rejected President Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan illegals in a 2-1 decision.

The three-judge panel included: Majority: Southwich (George W Bush), Ramirez (Biden) – Dissent: Oldham (Trump).

The majority ruled that there has been no invasion or predatory incursion.

Reuters reported:

The Fifth Circuit is the first federal appeals court to rule directly on a March 14 presidential proclamation invoking the 1798 law to justify rapid deportations.

Circuit Judge Leslie Southwick, writing for the two-judge majority, rejected the Trump administration’s assertion that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua had engaged in a “predatory incursion” on U.S. soil.

The Act gives the government expansive powers to detain and deport citizens of hostile foreign nations, but only in times of war, or during an “invasion or predatory incursion.”

Earlier this year the US Supreme Court temporarily blocked the Trump Administration from deporting dangerous Venezuelan gang members under the Alien Enemies Act.

In an unsigned order, the high court said the Trump DOJ did not give the Venezuelans enough time to challenge their removals.

“Under these circumstances, notice roughly 24 hours before removal, devoid of information about how to exercise due process rights to contest that removal, surely does not pass muster,” the unsigned decision read.

The case went back down to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and a three-judge panel ruled against President Trump.

Although several district court judges have ruled against President Trump’s decision to invoke the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan aliens, a federal judge in Pennsylvania on Tuesday became the first to say Trump can invoke the AEA to deport Tren de Aragua gang members.

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