Latest news with #AlienEnemiesact
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump DOJ Ordered ICE to Invade Homes Without Search Warrant
The Justice Department quietly invoked the Alien Enemies act last month to give Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents the power to conduct warrantless searches of people's homes as long as they suspect them to be an 'alien enemy.' USA Today obtained the memo that contained this order on Friday. 'As much as practicable, officers should follow the proactive procedures above—and have an executed Warrant of Apprehension and Removal—before contacting an Alien Enemy,' the memo reads. 'However, that will not always be realistic or effective in swiftly identifying and removing Alien Enemies.… An officer may encounter a suspected Alien Enemy in the natural course of the officer's enforcement activity, such as when apprehending other validated members of Tren de Aragua. Given the dynamic nature of enforcement operations, officers in the field are authorized to apprehend aliens upon a reasonable belief that the alien meets all four requirements to be validated as an Alien Enemy. This authority includes entering an Alien Enemy's residence to make an AEA apprehension where circumstances render it impracticable to first obtain a signed Notice and Warrant of Apprehension and Removal' (emphasis added). In the memo, the Justice Department defined an 'alien enemy' as anyone who is 14 years of age or older, not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, a citizen of Venezuela, and 'a member of the hostile enemy Tren de Aragua,' per the Alien Enemy Validation Guide, a document that has already been slammed by immigration experts. The broad definition has already resulted in the apprehension and deportation of more than 200 men to El Salvador who just happened to have tattoos, like gay makeup artist Andry José Hernández Romero. This type of order will likely lead to more indiscriminate arrests and wanton racial profiling. The memo, which is from March 14, is another massive departure from the U.S. immigration norms.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judge considers holding Trump officials in contempt for defying court orders blocking El Salvador flights
Lawyers for Donald Trump's administration are refusing to answer who gave the order to ignore a federal judge's ruling that blocked the government from deporting dozens of immigrants under the president's use of the Alien Enemies act. District Judge James Boasberg grilled government lawyers at a hearing in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to determine whether the government intentionally defied his court orders to turn planes around before they were emptied out into a notorious prison in El Salvador last month. The administration appeared to be acting in 'bad faith' after his court orders, Boasberg said. 'If you believed everything you did was legal, I can't believe you would have operated the way you did that day,' he said. Deputy assistant attorney general Drew Ensign repeatedly said his conversations with administration officials about Boasberg's orders were subject to attorney-client privilege. Ensign said he messaged officials at the State Department and Department of Homeland Security as well as the Department of Justice, believing the judge's orders 'would be circulated to the relevant people.' 'Who made the decision' to continue with the flights, Boasberg asked. 'I don't know,' Ensign replied. 'You really don't know? I'm interested in finding that out,' Boasberg said. 'If I find there's probable cause for contempt ... then there's a good chance we'll have hearings,' he added. 'I will review the material and issue an order and I will determine if I have found that probable cause exists to believe that contempt has occurred, and if so, how to proceed from there.' The judge also noted the case of a wrongly deported Salvadoran man, who was among dozens of immigrants on planes bound for El Salvador, to suggest that the administration rushed their removal to evade the court's scrutiny. Boasberg also noted eight women and one Nicaraguan man were returned to the United States after the Salvadoran government refused them, arguing that the Trump administration operationally could have brought people back if it wanted to. The Trump administration is also refusing to answer questions about the flights under a 'state secrets privilege' to prevent the release of evidence that could compromise national security. Ensign said the State Department fears 'diplomatic consequences.' Flights were in the air on March 15 when Boasberg ordered the administration to turn the planes around after a lawsuit from the ACLU challenging their clients' removal. The judge wants to know when government lawyers relayed his verbal and written orders to administration officials and who, if anyone, gave the flights a greenlight despite the orders. While Boasberg is weighing the possibility of sanctions against the administration, government lawyers are calling on the Supreme Court to allow Trump to resume removing immigrants from the United States under the Alien Enemies Act, a centuries-old wartime law invoked for the fourth time in U.S. history to target alleged member of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. 'This case presents fundamental questions about who decides how to conduct sensitive national-security-related operations in this country,' according to the administration's filing with the nation's highest court last week. 'The Constitution supplies a clear answer: the President. The republic cannot afford a different choice,' the petition states. The request follows a federal appeals court's rejection of the president's attempt to throw out Boasberg's ruling that is temporarily blocking the administration from deporting immigrants under the act. Trump's proclamation 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.' But the administration has since 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.
The Independent
03-04-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Judge considers holding Trump officials in contempt for defying court orders blocking El Salvador flights
Lawyers for Donald Trump 's administration are refusing to answer who gave the order to ignore a federal judge's ruling that blocked the government from deporting dozens of immigrants under the president's use of the Alien Enemies act. District Judge James Boasberg grilled government lawyers at a hearing in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to determine whether the government intentionally defied his court orders to turn planes around before they were emptied out into a notorious prison in El Salvador last month. The administration appeared to be acting in 'bad faith' after his court orders, Boasberg said. 'If you believed everything you did was legal, I can't believe you would have operated the way you did that day,' he said. Deputy assistant attorney general Drew Ensign repeatedly said his conversations with administration officials about Boasberg's orders were subject to attorney-client privilege. Ensign said he messaged officials at the State Department and Department of Homeland Security as well as the Department of Justice, believing the judge's orders 'would be circulated to the relevant people.' 'Who made the decision' to continue with the flights, Boasberg asked. 'I don't know,' Ensign replied. 'You really don't know? I'm interested in finding that out,' Boasberg said. 'If I find there's probable cause for contempt ... then there's a good chance we'll have hearings,' he added. 'I will review the material and issue an order and I will determine if I have found that probable cause exists to believe that contempt has occurred, and if so, how to proceed from there.' The judge also noted the case of a wrongly deported Salvadoran man, who was among dozens of immigrants on planes bound for El Salvador, to suggest that the administration rushed their removal to evade the courts. Boasberg also noted that eight women and one Nicaraguan man were returned to the United States after the Salvadoran government refused them, arguing that the Trump administration operationally could have brought people back if it wanted to. The Trump administration is also refusing to answer questions about the flights under a 'state secrets privilege' to prevent the release of evidence that could compromise national security. Ensign said the State Department fears 'diplomatic consequences.' While Boasberg is weighing sanctions against the administration, government lawyers are calling on the Supreme Court to allow Trump to resume removing immigrants from the United States under the Alien Enemies Act, a centuries-old wartime law invoked for the fourth time in U.S. history to target Venezuelans. 'This case presents fundamental questions about who decides how to conduct sensitive national-security-related operations in this country,' according to the administration's filing with the nation's highest court last week. 'The Constitution supplies a clear answer: the President. The republic cannot afford a different choice,' the petition states. The request follows a federal appeals court's rejection of the president's attempt to throw out Boasberg's ruling that is temporarily blocking the administration from deporting immigrants under the act.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump sounds off after 'Highly Conflicted' Obama-nominated judge assigned Signal chat lawsuit: ‘Disgraceful'
President Donald Trump sounded off on Truth Social early Thursday after Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia was assigned to preside over a lawsuit lodged against several Trump administration officials and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The Obama-nominated judge has also been presiding over a lawsuit challenging Trump's invocation of the Alien Enemies act for authority to deport Venezuelan members of Tren de Aragua, which the U.S. has designated as a foreign terrorist organization. "How disgraceful is it that 'Judge' James Boasberg has just been given a fourth 'Trump Case,' something which is, statistically, IMPOSSIBLE. There is no way for a Republican, especially a TRUMP REPUBLICAN, to win before him. He is Highly Conflicted, not only in his hatred of me — Massive Trump Derangement Syndrome! — but also, because of disqualifying family conflicts," Trump asserted in a post. Judge Fighting Trump Over El Salvador Deportations Assigned To Lawsuit Over Signal Chat Leak "Boasberg, who is the Chief Judge of the D.C. District Court, seems to be grabbing the 'Trump Cases' all to himself, even though it is not supposed to happen that way. Is there still such a thing as the 'wheel,' where the Judges are chosen fairly, and at random?" he continued. "The good news is that it probably doesn't matter, because it is virtually impossible for me to get an Honest Ruling in D.C. Our Nation's Courts are broken, with New York and D.C. being the most preeminent of all in their Corruption and Radicalism. There must be an immediate investigation of this Rigged System, before it is too late!" Read On The Fox News App Trump called for Boasberg to be impeached earlier this month. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz Takes Responsibility For 'Embarrassing' Signal Chat Leak After calling him a "Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge, a troublemaker and agitator," Trump declared in a post on Truth Social, which did not refer to Boasberg by name, "This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges' I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!" The new lawsuit Boasberg has been assigned was brought by the self-described "watchdog" group American Oversight. Defendants named in the suit include Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as dependents, along with the NARA. Trump Administration Invokes State Secrets Act On High-profile Deportation Case "Plaintiff American Oversight brings this action … to prevent the unlawful destruction of federal records and to compel Defendants to fulfill their legal obligations to preserve and recover federal records created through unauthorized use of Signal for sensitive national security decision-making," the suit article source: Trump sounds off after 'Highly Conflicted' Obama-nominated judge assigned Signal chat lawsuit: 'Disgraceful'
Fox News
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Trump sounds off after 'Highly Conflicted' Obama-nominated judge assigned Signal chat lawsuit: ‘Disgraceful'
President Donald Trump sounded off on Truth Social early Thursday after Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia was assigned to preside over a lawsuit lodged against several Trump administration officials and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The Obama-nominated judge has also been presiding over a lawsuit challenging Trump's invocation of the Alien Enemies act for authority to deport Venezuelan members of Tren de Aragua, which the U.S. has designated as a foreign terrorist organization. "How disgraceful is it that 'Judge' James Boasberg has just been given a fourth 'Trump Case,' something which is, statistically, IMPOSSIBLE. There is no way for a Republican, especially a TRUMP REPUBLICAN, to win before him. He is Highly Conflicted, not only in his hatred of me — Massive Trump Derangement Syndrome! — but also, because of disqualifying family conflicts," Trump asserted in a post. "Boasberg, who is the Chief Judge of the D.C. District Court, seems to be grabbing the 'Trump Cases' all to himself, even though it is not supposed to happen that way. Is there still such a thing as the 'wheel,' where the Judges are chosen fairly, and at random?" he continued. "The good news is that it probably doesn't matter, because it is virtually impossible for me to get an Honest Ruling in D.C. Our Nation's Courts are broken, with New York and D.C. being the most preeminent of all in their Corruption and Radicalism. There must be an immediate investigation of this Rigged System, before it is too late!" Trump called for Boasberg to be impeached earlier this month. After calling him a "Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge, a troublemaker and agitator," Trump declared in a post on Truth Social, which did not refer to Boasberg by name, "This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges' I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!" The new lawsuit Boasberg has been assigned was brought by the self-described "watchdog" group American Oversight. Defendants named in the suit include Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as dependents, along with the NARA. "Plaintiff American Oversight brings this action … to prevent the unlawful destruction of federal records and to compel Defendants to fulfill their legal obligations to preserve and recover federal records created through unauthorized use of Signal for sensitive national security decision-making," the suit declares.
