The RecordExhibit 109
Invoking a 1798 wartime law to deport Venezuelans without hearings
Mixed rulings means: Courts have ruled both ways on parts of it.
Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, declaring the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua an invading force so that its alleged members could be removed from the country with no immigration hearing.
What happened
The first flights under the proclamation carried Venezuelans to El Salvador's CECOT prison on March 15, 2025 (covered in a separate entry). In April 2025 the Supreme Court ruled that detainees are entitled to notice and a chance to challenge their removal in court, and in May it barred removals under the act while the courts sorted out what notice is required. Sixteen months of litigation followed, including a midnight Supreme Court order stopping a flight.
Where it stands
District courts have ruled both ways, and no appeals court has settled whether the invocation was lawful. In May 2025, Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. of the Southern District of Texas held that the proclamation exceeds the scope of the act and is unlawful, and permanently barred the government from using it against detainees in his district. On May 13, 2025, Judge Stephanie Haines of the Western District of Pennsylvania, a Trump appointee, ruled the other way: the act can be used to remove Venezuelans 14 or older who are in the country without legal status and are members of Tren de Aragua, though she ordered at least 21 days' notice and a chance to be heard before any removal. NPR reported at the time that at least three other federal judges had found the administration was using the act improperly. In a separate case, a Fifth Circuit panel ruled the same way in September 2025, finding that an invasion under the act means a military act of war, but the full court vacated that panel ruling and in August 2026 dismissed the case as moot after the government deported the three named plaintiffs under ordinary immigration law instead. The Supreme Court's bar on removals under the act remains in place, and the question can return in other cases. Judge James Ho wrote that the court should have upheld the president's actions.
The administration's side
The administration says Tren de Aragua is a designated terrorist organization, that whether an invasion exists is the president's judgment rather than the courts', and that those removed received adequate notice. Homeland Security's chief counsel has accused district judges of political activism for blocking deportations.
Sources
Permanent link: https://unredactedrecord.com/e/aea/