Trump's Weird Definition of
'#Alien #Enemies'
Trump's invocation of the
"Alien Enemies Act" was dubious from the beginning.
That rarely used 1798 statute applies when
"there is a declared war"
between the United States and a
"foreign nation or government"
or when a
"foreign nation or government"
has "perpetrated, attempted, or threatened"
an "invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States"
(even when a war has not been declared).
In those circumstances,
the AEA authorizes
"restraint, regulation, and removal"
of "natives, citizens, denizens, or subjects of the hostile nation or government,"
provided they are at least 14 years old.
In a proclamation published on the evening of Saturday, March 15,
Trump implausibly claimed that members of the Venezuelan gang "Tren de Aragua"
qualified as
"alien enemies" under that definition.
In addition to dubiously asserting that Tren de Aragua had "perpetrated, attempted, or threatened" an "invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States,"
the proclamation counterintuitively implied that the gang was a
"foreign nation or government."
Trump further stretched the language of the statute by implying that alleged Tren de Aragua members were
"natives, citizens, denizens, or subjects" of the gang.
His initial use of the AEA was clearly designed
💥to avoid judicial review altogether.
By the time he published his proclamation,
the Department of Homeland Security was already in the process of removing detainees and sending them to CECOT.
Lawyers at the American Civil Liberties Union got wind of the pending proclamation
and filed a complaint on behalf of five detainees in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
They also sought protection for a class consisting of similarly situated detainees,
and they filed an urgent motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO),
noting that the plaintiffs were
"at substantial risk of immediate, summary removal from the United States"
under the AEA.
In light of "the exigent circumstances," #James #Boasberg, the district's chief judge, promptly granted a TRO aimed at
"maintain[ing] the status quo until a hearing can be set."
That hearing convened via Zoom at 5 p.m. that Saturday,
which was still three hours before Trump's proclamation appeared on the White House website.
In response to the concern that airplanes bound for El Salvador were about to take off,
Boasberg repeatedly asked Deputy Assistant Attorney General #Drew #Ensign what was happening.
Ensign never gave Boasberg a straight answer.
https://reason.com/2026/01/01/3-areas-where-the-courts-pushed-back-against-trumps-attempts-to-avoid-judicial-review-in-2025/
