Court halts Trump's plan to expel Tren de Aragua gang associates

In a significant ruling, a federal appeals court has blocked the Trump administration from speeding the deportations of migrants accused of being members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, using the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.

The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with immigrant rights lawyers and lower court judges who argued the Alien Enemies Act was not created to be used against gangs like Tren de Aragua. U.S. Circuit Judges Leslie Southwick and Irma Carrillo Ramirez wrote in the majority opinion that a country encouraging illegal entry is not the modern-day equivalent of sending an armed, organized force to occupy, disrupt, or harm the United States.

Lee Gelernt, who argued the case for the American Civil Liberties Union, stated that the court's decision was critically important in reining in the administration's view that it can declare an emergency without oversight by the courts. The court's ruling blocks deportations from Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

President Donald Trump shared footage of a U.S. military strike against a Tren de Aragua narco-terrorist vessel carrying drugs from Venezuela. However, the majority opinion in the ruling states that Trump's allegations about Tren de Aragua do not meet the historical levels of national conflict intended by Congress when the Alien Enemies Act was approved.

In a dissent, U.S. Circuit Judge Andrew Oldham argued that the majority was second-guessing Trump's conduct in foreign affairs and national security, areas where courts often give the president great deference. Oldham wrote that the majority's approach to this case is unprecedented and contrary to more than 200 years of precedent.

The Trump administration secured one legal victory in Tuesday's ruling, with the judges finding the procedures officials use to advise detainees under the Alien Enemies Act about their legal rights are appropriate. The ruling can be appealed to the full Fifth Circuit or directly to the U.S. Supreme Court, which is expected to make the ultimate decision in this case.

No information about the court or judge's name was provided in the text. The Associated Press contributed to this report. More than 250 of the deported migrants returned to Venezuela under a deal announced in July. The Alien Enemies Act was previously used only three times in U.S. history, and all came during declared wars in the War of 1812 and the two World Wars. No search results provide information about which authority vetoed the use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 by the Trump administration to accelerate the deportation of alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. The Trump administration deported alleged Tren de Aragua members to a mega-prison in El Salvador where U.S. courts could not order their release.