Federal Court Issues Two Important Rulings Against Trump in Alien Enemies Act Case
Today, US District Court Judge Fernando Rodriguez (Southern District, Texas) issued two important ruling against the Trump Administration in J.A.V. v. Trump, an Alien Enemies Act case. The first holds that Trump’s invocation of the AEA is “unlawful” and imposes a permanent injunction against its use against migrants involved in the lawsuit. The second certifies that Venezuelan migrants targeted by Trump’s invocation of the Act may file a habeas corpus class action to challenge its use against them.
The AEA can only be used to detain and deport immigrants in the event of a declared war, or an “invasion” or “predatory incursion” perpetrated by a “foreign nation or government.” Judge Rodriguez, a Trump appointee, ruled that the AEA’s use by Trump against Venezuelan migrants who are supposed members of the Tren de Aragua drug gang is illegal because TdA’s activities don’t qualify as an “invasion” or “predatory incursion”:
Petitioners’ briefing contains numerous sources contemporaneous to the enactment of the AEA in which “invasion” and “predatory incursion” expressly reference or imply military action.Those sources include dictionary definitions, historical records such as letters, and court decisions….
Respondents do not challenge these usages. Instead, they contend that other
contemporaneous sources reflect a broader understanding of “invasion,” with no express or implicit military requirement. In support of their construction, however, they provide only two examples, both of them from dictionaries….To augment the parties’ submissions, the Court reviewed numerous historical records using “invasion,” “predatory incursion,” and “incursion” for the period from 1780 through 1820…. In the significant majority of the records, the use of “invasion” and “predatory incursion” referred to an attack by military forces. This held true even when the historical record did not concern the Revolutionary War or the War of 1812. The usages of “predatory incursion” at times referred to entries by Native Americans into the western territories, as did usages of “incursion.” But even these records refer to an organized group of armed individuals entering an area to attack a fort, settlement, or town, and the wri
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