2 judges limit Trump's bid to deport ‘alien enemies' in back-to-back rulings
Supreme Court ruling
earlier this week and warning of the potential for 'irreparable' mistakes.
The ruling by a Trump-appointed judge, which appears limited to defendants currently confined in Texas, came moments after a Clinton-appointed federal judge in New York said he would order the administration to guarantee those alleged 'alien enemies' in his Manhattan-based district a chance to challenge their deportations.
The near-simultaneous rulings further hamstring the Trump administration's efforts to deport alleged members of a Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, by using the two-centuries-old Alien Enemies Act, a rarely used law meant to guard against foreign invasions in wartime. It's the latest legal setback for President Donald Trump's effort to deploy these war powers to summarily deport foreign nationals he labels terrorists.
Many of those targeted by Trump's invocation have claimed they were misidentified as members of the gang. The White House dismissed those claims and initially contended Trump's designation was enough to justify their speedy removals. But the Supreme Court disagreed, ruling Monday that those labeled 'alien enemies' must have a meaningful chance to challenge their deportations.
U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr., the Trump appointee in Brownsville, Texas, noted the potential for mistakes similar to the case of an
illegally deported Maryland man
, Kilmar Abrego Garcia. He was sent to a high-security prison in El Salvador as part of a hastily organized mass deportation effort carried out on March 15. The government says Abrego Garcia entered the U.S. without authorization in 2011, but an immigration judge's 2019 ruling ordered that he not be returned to his home country of El Salvador because of the threat of persecution he faced there.
Rodriguez's order
clearly blocks the deportation of anyone being held at the El Valle Detention Facility in Raymondville, Texas, the main immigration detention center the Trump administration used to gather the alleged gang members.
The Texas lawsuit appears to seek relief for all Venezuelans in the U.S. who could be subject to deportation under Trump's order, while the New York lawsuit seeks to apply to those in the district.
The orders the judges issued Wednesday, however, do not go that far.
Although Manhattan U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein didn't make a determination on the class question, he appeared inclined to grant it, saying, 'I think there are issues of fact and law common to the group.'
Hellerstein said that 'given the history, it seems to me that people need to be guaranteed a notice and guaranteed a hearing.'
He added: 'I'm not supposing to make any grand decisions about the Alien Enemies Act. … That would be an issue for another day.'
Hellerstein set the next hearing in the New York case for April 22. Rodriguez set a hearing in the Texas case for Friday.
Last month, Rodriguez
stepped in to block the deportation
of one Venezuelan who appeared to have been scheduled to be placed on one of a trio of flights the Trump administration launched on March 15. Those flights flew more than 200 men to the notorious anti-terrorism prison in El Salvador.
According to his lawyers, Daniel Zacarias-Matos was told on March 14 that he was being deported that day by plane, but the aircraft developed a problem and the flight was canceled. That gave his lawyers time to file
an emergency petition
with Rodriguez, who quickly granted an order temporarily barring him from being deported.
One of his lawyers, Jaime Diez, said in an interview he raced to the detention center to make sure Zacarias-Matos was not loaded onto buses headed for a nearby airport. Diez then
shot video
of one of the last buses carrying deportees as it rolled away from the detention center with a security escort.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
9 minutes ago
- New York Post
Anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil argues Oct. 7 terror attack was ‘desperate attempt' by Palestinians to ‘break the cycle'
Anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil argued Tuesday that the heinous Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack on Israel was a 'desperate' moment Palestinians 'had to reach' in order to be heard. The former Columbia University student, who was detained for over three months by the Trump administration for his prominent role in antisemitic campus protests, offered his thin rationale for the deadliest terror attack on the Jewish State in an interview with New York Times journalist Ezra Klein, who repeatedly asked Khalil to clarify his remarks. 3 Khalil blamed Israel for the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack, arguing the Israeli government was 'absolutely ignoring Palestinians' during Abraham Accord negotiations ahead of the massacre. Getty Images Advertisement 'To me, it felt frightening that we had to reach this moment in the Palestinian struggle,' Khalil said, when asked about what he was thinking on the day of the attack that killed more than 1,000 people in Israel, mostly civilians. 'I remember I didn't sleep for a number of days, and Noor [Khalil's wife] was very worried about my health. It was heavy. I still remember. I was like: 'This couldn't happen,'' he added. 'The Ezra Klein Show' host followed up by asking: 'What do you mean we had to reach this moment? What moment is this?' Advertisement 'You can see that the situation is not sustainable,' Khalil responded, referring to tensions between Israel and Gaza and the West Bank in the run-up to Oct. 7. 'You have an Israeli government that's absolutely ignoring Palestinians,' he argued. 'They are trying to make that deal with Saudi and just happy about their Abraham Accord without looking at Palestinians — as if Palestinians are not part of the equation. They circumvented the Palestinian question.' 'It was clear that it was becoming more and more violent. By Oct. 6, over 200 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces and settlers. Over 40 of them were children. So that's what I mean by: Unfortunately, we couldn't avoid such a moment.' Klein later asked Khalil if he felt the attack was something 'Hamas must have wanted' to drag Israel into an all-out war or rather an event 'that needed to happen to break the equilibrium.' Advertisement 'It's more the latter — just to break the cycle, to break that Palestinians are not being heard,' Khalil argued. 'And to me, it's a desperate attempt to tell the world that Palestinians are here, that Palestinians are part of the equation.' 'That was my interpretation of why Hamas did the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.' 3 The Trump administration claims Khalil was engaged in activities 'aligned with Hamas' at Columbia University. James Keivom 3 Khalil has previously refused to condemn Hamas. AFP via Getty Images Advertisement Khalil declined to characterize the attack as a 'mistake,' when asked by Klein, but acknowledged that 'targeting civilians is wrong.' 'Unfortunately, these horrible things happened, but we cannot ask Palestinians to be perfect victims,' the activist continued. Khalil was arrested by federal immigration authorities on March 8 and spent 104 days at a Louisiana detention center as the Trump administration fought to deport the Syrian-born permanent resident. The administration said Khalil, who is now suing the federal government for $20 million over his detainment, engaged in activities 'aligned to Hamas.' Last month, in a heated CNN interview, Khalil flatly refused to condemn Hamas over the Oct. 7 attack – calling the question from host Pamela Brown 'disingenuous.'
The Hill
9 minutes ago
- The Hill
Ontario premier says he doesn't trust Trump and warns the US president could reopen trade pact
TORONTO (AP) — The leader of Canada's most populous province said Wednesday he doesn't trust U.S. President Donald Trump and expects the president to soon reopen the free trade agreement he agreed to in his first term. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the federal government needs to prepare for that to happen this fall. Ford made the comments after the country's provincial premiers and Prime Minister Mark Carney met in private for the first time since Trump escalated his trade war by hitting Canada with a baseline 35% tariff last week. The new tariff, which took effect on Friday after the two countries failed to hit an Aug. 1 deadline to secure a new trade agreement, applies only to goods not covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement that Trump negotiated during his first term. Trump previously hailed the agreement as 'the fairest, most balanced and beneficial trade agreement we have ever signed. ' Carney has said about 85% of trade with the U.S. remains tariff-free because of USMCA. Ford said Trump likely won't wait for the scheduled review of the agreement next year. 'He's not waiting until 2026. At any given time, President Trump — not that he even follows the rules — he can pull the carpet out from underneath us,' Ford told reporters in Toronto Wednesday. 'I'm going to ask the people, do you trust President Trump? I don't.' Carney told a press conference on Tuesday that he has not talked to Trump in recent days but would speak with him 'when it makes sense.' Sector-specific tariffs on Canada, like the 50% duty on steel, aluminum and copper, remain in place. Carney also suggested he may lift counter-tariffs if that helps Canada in the ongoing trade dispute.
The Hill
9 minutes ago
- The Hill
Trump, Zelensky see progress with Putin
The news comes after Trump on Truth Social touted a 'highly productive' meeting between Putin and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff. Later in the day, Zelensky said Russia appeared to be more open to a ceasefire agreement. 'Russia now seems to be more inclined toward a ceasefire — the pressure is working. But the key is to ensure they don't deceive anyone in the details — neither us, nor the United States,' Zelensky said during an address. Trump raised the idea of meeting with the two leaders during a call with European allies on Wednesday, a source confirmed to The Hill. It was not immediately clear when or where the meeting might happen, or if it had been agreed to by all parties. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Russia had expressed an interest in meeting with Trump. 'As President Trump said earlier today on TRUTH Social, great progress was made during Special Envoy Witkoff's meeting with President Putin,' Leavitt said in a statement. 'The Russians expressed their desire to meet with President Trump, and the President is open to meeting with both President Putin and President Zelensky. President Trump wants this brutal war to end.' The New York Times first reported that Trump was aiming to meet with Putin and Zelensky as soon as next week. Zelensky posted on X earlier Wednesday that he'd spoken with Trump following Witkoff's meetings in Russia. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday afternoon that Russia and Ukraine still need to move closer on their demands for a peace deal before the meeting with Trump can go ahead. 'If we can get what the Ukrainians will accept and what the Russians will accept close enough, then I think there's the opportunity for the president to have a meeting that includes both Putin and Zelensky to try to close this thing out,' he added. 'So, we've got to get closer in that regard.' The Trump administration is set to impose additional sanctions on Russia later this week, and the White House on Wednesday announced it would double tariffs on India over its continued purchase of Russian oil, which it said was fueling Moscow's war machine
