A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. has rejected Donald Trump’s attempt to throw out a lower-court ruling that has blocked the administration from deporting immigrants under the Alien Enemies Act.
Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act for the fourth time in U.S. history at some point before three planes with dozens of Venezuelans were sent to El Salvador’s notorious prison, where they do not have access to legal counsel and face the prospect of indefinite detention.
The flights were on their way to El Salvador on March 15 when District Judge James Boasberg ordered the administration to turn the planes around, and he has pressed officials to answer a series of questions about the operation to determine whether they intentionally defied his court orders.
Trump’s order states that “all Venezuelan citizens 14 years of age or older who are members of [Tren de Aragua], are within the United States, and are not actually naturalized or lawful permanent residents of the United States are liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as Alien Enemies.”
The administration admitted in court filings that “many” of the people sent to El Salvador did not have criminal records, and attorneys and family members say their clients and relatives — some of whom were in the country with legal permission and have upcoming court hearings on their asylum claims — have nothing to do with Tren de Aragua.
This is a developing story
