A federal judge on Thursday barred the Trump administration from deporting any Venezuelans from South Texas under an 18th-century wartime law and said President Trump's invocation of it was "unlawful." US District Court Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. is the first judge to rule that the Alien Enemies Act cannot be used against people the administration claims are gang members invading the United States, the AP reports.
- "Neither the Court nor the parties question that the Executive Branch can direct the detention and removal of aliens who engage in criminal activity in the United States," wrote Rodriguez, who was nominated by Trump in 2018. But, the judge said, "the President's invocation of the AEA through the Proclamation ... is contrary to the plain, ordinary meaning of the statute's terms."