President Trump on Saturday issued an executive order to deport Venezuelan gang members under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a rarely used wartime law that could allow removals with little due process.
The order declares that Venezuelans who are at least 14 years old, in the United States without authorization and part of the Tren de Aragua gang are “liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured and removed.”
The Alien Enemies Act allows for summary deportations of people from countries at war with the United States. The law, best known for its role in the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, has been invoked three times in U.S. history — during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II — according to the Brennan Center for Justice, a law and policy organization.
Hours before the White House published its proclamation, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on behalf of five Venezuelan men seeking to block the president from invoking the law.
A federal judge, James E. Boasberg of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia, issued a limited order on Saturday blocking the government from deporting the five men.
The Trump administration promptly filed an appeal of the order, and the A.C.L.U. asked the judge to broaden his order to apply to all immigrants at risk of deportation under the Alien Enemies Act.