Trump Administration Likely Violated Court Order in Alien Enemies Act Case
While things are not completely clear, evidence increasingly indicates that the Trump Administration violated a court order in the Alien Enemies Act case currently before a federal district court in Washington, DC. Adam Isaacson and Georgetown law Prof. Marty Lederman have detailed analyses of the relevant evidence and legal issues. But the bottom line is that, on Saturday March 15, US District Judge James Boasberg issued a temporary restraining order barring the administration from using the AEA to deport migrants for 14 days, and specifically indicating that they must turn around planes that might be in the air conducting such deportations. The administration nonetheless decided not to turn around two planes then in the air, and one more that was about to take off.
These three planes delivered a total of 137 Venezuelan migrants deported under the AEA to El Salvador, where they are going to be imprisoned for at least one year doing hard labor in that country’s notoriously awful prison system. And, while the administration claims these men are members of the Tren de Aragua drug gang, none of them has actually been convicted of any crime or even been given an opportunity to defend themselves against the accusation that they are members of the gang.
Administration lawyers have claimed the judge’s order wasn’t binding with respect to the men on these planes because the planes were over international waters. This argument is risibly weak. For the explanation why, see this analysis by Notre Dame law Prof. Sam Bray, a leading expert on these kinds of jurisdictional issues.
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