Judge Blocks Use of Alien Enemies Act for Deportations in L.A.
Judge Blocks Use of Alien Enemies Act for Deportations in L.A. originally appeared on L.A. Mag.
U.S. District Judge John Holcomb, a 2019 Trump appointee, issued a preliminary injunction Monday blocking the Trump administration from using the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan migrants in the Los Angeles area. The ruling is the latest effort to limit mass deportations of alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua under the wartime law, which allows the government to detain or deport citizens of enemy nations.Holcomb's order applies to individuals in custody within the Central District of California, which includes Los Angeles and Orange Counties.The case stems from the arrest of Darwin Antonio Arevalo Millan, a Venezuelan asylum seeker taken into custody during a routine ICE check-in, allegedly due to tattoos linked to the gang. Although the government claimed Arevalo was not detained under the Alien Enemies Act, Holcomb found he faced an imminent threat of removal under the law.
Holcomb ruled that Arevalo must be given due process to challenge his designation as an "alien enemy.""Arevalo seeks to avoid being deported as an alien enemy without being afforded the opportunity to challenge that designation—not to avoid deportation altogether," Holcomb wrote.The judge also noted that Arevalo is unlikely to prove the administration invoked the Alien Enemies Act unlawfully, emphasizing that it is up to the president to determine whether an invasion has occurred under the statute.Monday's ruling adds to a growing number of court decisions in other states that have limited or blocked the administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act, deepening the legal uncertainty surrounding the law since it was first invoked in March against alleged members of Tren de Aragua.
This story was originally reported by L.A. Mag on Jun 3, 2025, where it first appeared.
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