A federal judge blocked President Trump on Saturday from invoking the 18th century Alien Enemies Act to swiftly deport alleged Venezuelan gang members without a hearing – ordering any flights carrying the supposed criminals to turn around.
US District judge James Boasberg quickly ordered the Trump administration to halt all removals after the commander in chief signed off on a presidential action invoking the 1798 law – aimed at targeting Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua, The Washington Post reported.
The chief judge in the District of Columbia said he heard that “flights are actively departing” and ordered US officials to have planes in the air carrying migrants returned to the United States, the outlet reported.
“Any plane containing these folks that is going to take off or is in the air needs to be returned to the United States however that is accomplished,” Boasberg reportedly wrote. “Make sure it’s complied with immediately.”
Trump’s proclamation’s language contends Venezuelan nationals are now “liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as Alien Enemies.”
Trump signed a presidential order in January, designating Tren de Aragua a foreign terrorist organization, clearing a path for immigration officials to start rounding up its members for removal.
Boasberg’s ruling came in response to civil rights groups who filed a challenge to Trump’s wartime action early Saturday.
The Alien Enemies Act had only been utilized four times. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was the last president to do so following the attack on the Pearl Harbor naval base, dragging the US into World War II.
