In a significant legal development, a federal judge has issued a permanent injunction, effectively blocking the Trump Administration from utilizing the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) as a means to deport Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador. This ruling, delivered by U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez, a Trump appointee, challenges the administration’s interpretation of the AEA as “unlawful.”
Judge Rodriguez clarified that the AEA is applicable only in situations when the United States is at war or facing an armed attack. As he succinctly put it, “The Proclamation exceeds the scope of the statute and, as a result, is unlawful.” He further asserted that federal officials lack the lawful authority under the AEA to detain Venezuelan nationals, transfer them within the U.S., or deport them altogether.
7/ Court enjoins Trump Administration by finding Alien Enemies Act (AEA) does not provide basis for removal under circumstances stated in injunction. In footnote, court addresses some other issues too. pic.twitter.com/1wuGJ4CefQ
— Margot Cleveland (@ProfMJCleveland) May 1, 2025
As reported by AP, Judge Rodriguez stands out as the first to assert that the AEA cannot be wielded against individuals whom the Trump administration alleges to be gang members infiltrating the United States. He acknowledged the executive branch’s authority to detain and deport individuals involved in criminal activities but emphasized that the President’s application of the AEA in this context is not only overreaching but also misaligned with the statute’s fundamental meaning.
Additionally, just last week, another federal judge in Texas, David Briones, appointed by Clinton, similarly halted the deportation of alleged Tren de Aragua gang members under the AEA. Judge Briones ordered the release of two suspects, Julio Cesar Sanchez Puentes and Luddis Norelia Sanchez Garcia, who had entered the U.S. from Mexico in 2022 and were granted temporary protected status by the Biden Administration. Following Trump’s cancellation of the TPS program, the couple was apprehended at an El Paso airport earlier this month.
Judge Briones expressed concern over the “chaos and uncertainty” stemming from the executive branch’s unprecedented peacetime application of wartime powers. He noted that this not only complicates individual cases but also challenges the judicial system’s ability to assess claims related to membership in the Tren de Aragua gang and the broader implications of the AEA.
“There is no doubt the Executive Branch’s unprecedented peacetime use of wartime power has caused chaos and uncertainty for individual petitions as well as the judicial branch in how to manage and evaluate the Executive’s claims of Tren de Aragua membership, and the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act as a whole,” Judge Briones stated, as reported by The Associated Press.
Judge Briones’ ruling is not an isolated incident; it extends to all illegal immigrants facing removal under the AEA within his Texas jurisdiction. Similar judicial decisions have also emerged from federal courts in New York, Colorado, and South Texas, indicating a growing judicial consensus regarding the limitations of the AEA in contemporary immigration enforcement.
