Trump judges pump brakes so far on Alien Enemies Act deportations to El Salvador
Johnstown, Pennsylvania CNN —
The centerpiece of Donald Trump's hardline attempts to deport undocumented immigrants using a wartime power has been met with resistance by federal courts, including among judges Trump himself has appointed.
The latest, on Monday, was district Judge Stephanie Haines, presiding over a federal court in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The administration argued to Haines that it should be able to use the Alien Enemies Act to deport migrants from the US with little advance notice.
Haines had already temporarily blocked the Trump administration from sending suspected Tren de Aragua gang members from Venezuela to El Salvador if they were held in a facility in her district, in Central Pennsylvania, where there is a hub for immigration detainees for the northeastern US.
On Monday, she didn't rule on whether he prohibition should last longer, or say if she would allow the administration to use the wartime law for detainees being moved through Pennsylvania. Yet she asked the Justice Department several questions about why they thought it was sufficient for detainees to have a fewer-than-two-day window to challenge the Alien Enemies Act once they're told they may be sent to El Salvador.
In addition to Haines, another Trump-appointed trial-level judge, in South Texas, ruled last week that removals under the Alien Enemies Act weren't lawful.
Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr., who joined the bench in Texas in 2018, decided the president alone couldn't deem the US was being threatened or invaded by Venezuelans and declare undocumented immigrants from the country alien enemies. The ruling was the first to block the administration's use of the law after weighing the case in full.
Though Rodriguez's decision only applies to migrants held in the judge's district in south Texas, it became a crucial early sign that a centerpiece of the administration's hardline immigration policy may be struck down across the country.
Each ruling, especially if they come from Trump-appointed judges, may chip away at the administration's arguments for using the controversial law.
'All these decisions are pointing in the same direction, which is that the Alien Enemies Act should only be used in time of war or invasion,' Christopher Slobogin, a criminal justice professor at Vanderbilt University Law School, told CNN this week. 'The fact that Trump appointees are saying that makes the point especially strongly.'
Two other federal judges this week — one nominated by former President Bill Clinton and another nominated by former President Joe Biden — are poised to make more thorough decisions for migrants who were detained in Colorado and the New York City area. Those judges, Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan and Charlotte Sweeney in Denver, have already temporarily stopped immigration authorities from removing detainees whom the administration wants to deem alien enemies. A third Democratic presidential appointee to the bench, Gloria Navarro in Nevada's US District Court, has already blocked the use of the Alien Enemies Act at this time.
And three judges on the federal appeals court overseeing Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Kansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico have also declined to side with the administration so far. In a brief decision in late April, the three judges, including a George W. Bush appointee and a Trump appointee, said the Trump administration hadn't shown how they'd be irreparably harmed currently by a lower court's decision keeping detainees in Colorado inside the US.
'Given the important unresolved issues under the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) and the ruling of the United States Supreme Court that no one in that proceeding be removed under the AEA until further order of that Court, there is no realistic possibility that the government could remove any member of the class from this country' before May 6, the judges, Harris Hartz, Gregory Phillips and Joel Carson of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, wrote. The appeal is ongoing.
Judge Wesley Hendrix, another Trump appointee in northern Texas overseeing an Alien Enemies Act case, is continuing to scrutinize the use of the law regarding detainees apprehended in other parts of the country. But the administration has agreed it won't send the detainees held in the Bluebonnet Detention Center in that district to El Salvador, as it had planned heading into Easter weekend last month, at least while their court petitions are pending.
Lee Gelernt of the ACLU, which is representing immigration detainees in the Alien Enemies Act challenges, said after a court hearing before Trump-appointed Haines in Pennsylvania the presidential appointment of the judge shouldn't matter.
'Judges, no matter who nominated them, are very serious people' and take the immigration cases seriously, Gelernt said. 'We are not going to worry about that.'
All of the Alien Enemies Act cases are building toward a possible major test at the Supreme Court, in what may be one of the most significant fights so far on Trump's power, the protections of due process, the administration's execution of Trump's immigration agenda, and federal courts' willingness to push back so far in this presidential administration.
'If you have a sufficient number of lower court cases coming to the same conclusion, that's bound to create momentum at higher-level courts,' Slobogin said. But, 'It's always possible for the Supreme Court to say, 'All you guys are wrong.''
The Supreme Court — so far, however, with three Trump appointees and conservatives controlling the majority — in an unusual 7-2 emergency vote on April 19, has put the brakes on the administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act at this time for those held in Bluebonnet.
Part of the reason why lower courts are still involved and handling these cases piecemeal across the country is because of the Supreme Court previously directing each detainee to bring their own challenge where they are held.
'These have to be brought one at a time until an upper level court decides it,' Slobogin said. 'The ACLU is going to file every suit they can file, to make sure this issue is litigated to the fullest and to publicize what's going on. I'm waiting with bated breath to see what happens.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Verge
16 minutes ago
- The Verge
A new day of immigration protests is starting in Los Angeles
Angelenos are demanding the release of people detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), planning to gather in downtown Los Angeles for another day of protests following immigration raids throughout the region — but this time, against the backdrop of a federal National Guard deployment. Immigrant rights groups and unions plan to gather for one of the major actions anticipated in LA today, coinciding with the scheduled arraignment of the prominent labor leader David Huerta who was arrested on Friday. Beyond Huerta, folks are turning out to support coworkers and loved ones. 'These raids are cruel, disruptive, and designed to terrorize immigrant communities. They tear families apart,' the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) said in a statement the day Huerta was arrested. Huerta is President of SEIU California and was detained while 'conducting legal observation of ICE activity in his community,' according to AFL-CIO union leaders. SEIU says Huerta was 'beaten and dragged away.' ICE didn't immediately respond to a request for response from The Verge. At least 118 people were arrested in ICE operations last week, according to a Department of Homeland Security press release on Saturday. Protests have emerged across Los Angeles to stop ICE from detaining community members as part of the Trump administration's mass deportation campaign. President Trump called protesters 'troublemakers and insurrectionists' on Truth Social. On Saturday night, he ordered the National Guard to deploy and crack down on protests against the wishes of Governor Gavin Newsom — marking the first time a president has ordered troops without a governor's assent since 1965. Mayor Karen Bass called the move 'a chaotic escalation' and Newsom said it was 'purposefully inflammatory and [would] only escalate tensions.' Over the weekend, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also threatened to deploy Marines. Demonstrations across the city on Saturday 'remained peaceful,' the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said in a statement that night. But by late Sunday, hours after National Guard troops arrived, clashes escalated as more authorities and protesters gathered. The LAPD authorized the use of 'less lethal munitions' and an Australian reporter was caught on camera being shot by a rubber bullet. A British photojournalist said he was undergoing emergency surgery after being hit by what he believes was a non-lethal round. Waymo suspended its ride services after some of its tagged-up vehicles were set ablaze. LAPD spokesperson Drake Madison says that 42 people have been arrested so far, as of a Monday morning email to The Verge. An interfaith prayer vigil planned for Sunday night was canceled by organizers 'out of an abundance of caution.' A declaration of 'unlawful assembly' was in place overnight for downtown Los Angeles. But 'the tactical alert has been lifted,' Madison said in another email Monday morning.

17 minutes ago
Trump admin live updates: President to announce 'Trump savings accounts' for parents, guardians
The accounts are part of Trump's megabill. 1:40 As the Trump administration continues to ramp up its focus on Los Angeles and threatens to send troops to the city amid anti-ICE protests, the fallout from President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's feud continues. This comes as Republicans in Congress continue to work on agreeing on language for Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill." Meanwhile, U.S.-China trade talks in London this week are expected to take up a series of fresh disputes that have buffeted relations, threatening a fragile truce over tariffs. President Donald Trump will host a roundtable Monday to formally announce the provision in his massive funding bill called the "Trump savings accounts," which will allow parents and guardians to invest funds in the financial markets on behalf of children, a White House official confirms to ABC News. The savings account would be applicable to children born between January 1, 2025, and January 1, 2029. The government would deposit $1,000 into a tax-deferred, low-cost index fund account that will track the overall stock market for each newborn. Additional contributions can go up to $5,000 annually. When the children reach adulthood, they are able to take out the money to cover things like college or a down payment on a home. "The passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill will literally change the lives of working, middle class families across America by delivering the largest tax cuts in history, increasing the child tax credit, AND by creating this incredible new "Trump Account" program, which will put the lives of young Americans on the right financial path," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to ABC News. Multiple CEO's from companies, such as Dell Technologies, will appear with Trump to announce billions of dollars in collective investments into "Trump Accounts" for the children of their employees, according to the official. The event comes as the White House works to highlight Trump's so-called "One, Big, Beautiful Bill," as the Senate works through attempting to pass the budget bill and amid explosive criticism from Elon Musk last week. --ABC News' Lalee Ibssa


Bloomberg
17 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
'Diversity Drives Meritocracy' Says Helena Morrissey
US President Donald Trump has sought to abolish diversity, equity and inclusion policies, with America's influence being felt in corporate environments worldwide. A new piece of research from the UK's Diversity Project makes the case for cognitive diversity to boost the performance of investment teams -- if they are well managed. Chair of Diversity Project and former CEO of Newton investment management Helena Morrissey spoke to Bloomberg's Caroline Hepker and Jack Sidders about if diversity actually does deliver better returns. (Source: Bloomberg)