A federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled in favor of President Donald Trump‘s use of the Alien Enemies Act, marking the first time a judge has approved of the centuries-old law as a tool for expediting deportations of some illegal immigrants.
Judge Stephanie Haines of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania gave Trump his first ruling accepting his assertion that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is committing a “predatory incursion,” a requirement for invoking the Alien Enemies Act. Several other federal courts have rejected Trump’s efforts to use the 1798 law, but Haines, a Trump appointee, found his March proclamation “sufficient.”
“When this Court applies that definition to the Proclamation and its finding that TdA is committing a ‘predatory incursion,’ the Court holds that the Proclamation complies with the AEA,” the ruling said.
The court also found that the Trump administration’s notice to those subject to the Alien Enemies Act is “insufficient” and ordered detainees be given a 21-day notice and an “opportunity to be heard” before their deportations, along with a clear notice which shows the detainee is subject to the AEA and access to Spanish language interpreters for any hearings.
“The Court recognizes that it may need to conduct further analysis and consider additional issues related to the specifics of notice in the future. However, at this preliminary stage of this case, the Court finds that the foregoing is appropriate and complies with the law,” the order said.
The Supreme Court earlier this year issued an order allowing the Trump administration to use the Alien Enemies Act but ruled that affected individuals must be allowed to file habeas corpus petitions.
Since the Supreme Court’s ruling, several federal district courts have ruled on various cases regarding Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act. The president’s use of the law has been blocked in some jurisdictions, after the high court declined to rule on whether the law allows Trump to carry out the deportations.
The variety of rulings have also seen conflicting opinions from different Trump-appointed judges on whether detainees may band together for their legal proceedings challenging their removal, or whether courts need to consider the deportation cases individually.
One Alien Enemies Act case, pertaining to migrants in the Northern District of Texas, went to the Supreme Court, and the high court in a late night order blocked the deportation of a group of Venezuelans. Justice Samuel Alito offered a sharp dissent to the decision, calling it “unprecedented and legally questionable relief.”
TRUMP JUDGES SPLIT OVER GROUPING DEPORTATION CASES TOGETHER OR HANDLING INDIVIDUALLY
As the courts hear challenges to different Alien Enemies Act deportations, White House Deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said Friday the administration was “actively looking at” suspending habeas corpus as a way to speed up deportations.
“The Constitution is clear, and that, of course, is the supreme law of the land, that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended in time of invasion,” Miller told reporters at the White House. “So, I would say that’s an option we’re actively looking at.”