Latest news with #JudgeStephanieHaines
Malay Mail
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Malay Mail
Trump wins rare court victory to use 1798 law in fast-tracking Venezuelan deportations
WASHINGTON, May 14 — A federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled on Tuesday that the United States can use the Alien Enemies Act to fast-track the deportation of accused Venezuelan gang members, in what appears to be the first court ruling that backs the Trump administration's interpretation of the 1798 law. Judge Stephanie Haines, of the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, ruled that President Donald Trump has authority to declare the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua a foreign terrorist organisation and deport its members under the Alien Enemies Act, but she criticised the administration's practice of deporting people sometimes 'within a matter of hours.' Haines, appointed by Trump during his first term, ruled that the administration must give potential deportees at least 21 days' notice and the opportunity to challenge their removals, to avoid the possibility that people who are not gang members 'may be errantly removed from this country.' She made the ruling in court papers in the case of a Venezuelan man identified as A.S.R. Haines did not rule whether A.S.R. was a member of the gang, but she said people like him must be given more opportunity to challenge their deportations. Haines required the government to provide notice in Spanish and English, and to provide interpreters when necessary. Lee Gelernt, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union who is representing A.S.R., said he would appeal. 'We strongly disagree with the Court's decision to allow the government to continue using this wartime authority during peacetime, and will appeal that aspect of the decision,' Gelernt said. Haines' ruling is contrary to other federal courts' decisions on the Trump administration's interpretation of the Alien Enemies Act, which the president invoked in March as legal justification for deporting hundreds of men whom his administration accused of being Tren de Aragua members. Federal judges in New York, Colorado and Texas have ruled against Trump's use of the law to deport Venezuelans. Haines, in her ruling, noted that her district has jurisdiction over the petition filed by A.S.R., even though he was transferred from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, on 15 April to an ICE detention centre in Texas, despite a temporary restraining order issued that day barring his transfer from the Western District of Pennsylvania. The Trump administration has deported alleged gang members to a prison in El Salvador under an arrangement in which the United States is paying the Central American nation US$6 million. It is part of Trump's hardline approach toward immigration. The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. — Reuters
Washington Post
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Federal judge OKs use of Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans who are labeled gang members
A federal judge says President Donald Trump can use the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan citizens who are shown to be members of the Tren de Aragua gang. The ruling Tuesday from U.S. District Judge Stephanie Haines in Pennsylvania appears to be the first time a federal judge has signed off on Trump's proclamation calling Tren de Aragua a foreign terrorist organization and invoking the 18th century wartime law to deport people labeled as being members of the gang.
Washington Post
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Judge says Trump may use Alien Enemies Act for deportations in Pa., with more notice
A federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled Tuesday that President Donald Trump may use a wartime law to fast-track deportations of accused gang members but said authorities must give targeted migrants at least 21 days' notice and an opportunity to challenge their removals. The decision from U.S. District Judge Stephanie L. Haines is the first ruling to back the Trump administration's interpretation of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, which it has invoked to deport alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang. The law has been invoked only when the nation was at war.
