(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration’s attempt to invoke the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua hit another legal roadblock Tuesday with a federal judge in Colorado blocking some removals under the wartime authority.
U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney issued a temporary order Tuesday that prohibits the administration from using the law to deport noncitizens currently within the state of Colorado, further requiring that noncitizens subject to the AEA removal receive at least three weeks’ notice before deportation..
The Trump administration last month touched off a legal battle when it invoked the Alien Enemies Act — an 18th century wartime authority used to remove noncitizens with little-to-no due process — to deport two planeloads of alleged migrant gang members to the CECOT mega-prison in El Salvador by arguing that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is a “hybrid criminal state” that is invading the United States.
An official with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement acknowledged that “many” of the men deported on March 15 lack criminal records in the United States — but said that “the lack of specific information about each individual actually highlights the risk they pose” and “demonstrates that they are terrorists with regard to whom we lack a complete profile.”
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a subsequent 5-4 decision, allowed the Trump administration to resume deportations of alleged migrant gang members under the Alien Enemies Act — but said detainees must be given due process to challenge their removal.
The Colorado case is one of several lawsuits challenging the use of the AEA in Colorado, New York, and Texas, in which lawyers have argued that the Trump administration is shortchanging noncitizens by failing to provide them the “reasonable time” promised by the Supreme Court.
Judge Sweeney, in Tuesday’s order, criticized the Trump administration for attempting to remove two men in a manner she said is “deficient and fails to comport with due process.” According to the judge, the notices used by the Trump administration did not provide the men a reasonable amount of time to act on their due process and were only provided in English.
“The Court has grave concerns that Petitioners would be afforded notice that comports with due process to challenge the determination,” she wrote.
The judge also cast doubt on the legitimacy of President Donald Trump’s proclamation invoking the use of the Alien Enemies Act, writing that the plaintiffs were likely to prove that the proclamation violates Immigration and Nationality Act and humanitarian protections.
The Colorado ruling comes as a federal judge in New York is set to hear arguments Tuesday after he temporarily ruled that detained migrants being held in the Southern District of New York could not be deported without due process.
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled earlier this month that several alleged Venezuelan gang members could not be deported under the AEA without them first receiving notice and an opportunity for a hearing.
Judge Hellerstein, in his temporary order blocking the deportations, suggested his decision was meant to define the parameters of the Supreme Court’s opinion requiring due process be granted.
The relief Hellerstein granted is limited to approximately a dozen migrants currently detained in a few New York counties.
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