The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has requested that a federal judge prevent the Trump administration from deporting Venezuelans detained in northern Texas under an antiquated wartime law. The ACLU argues that immigration authorities seem poised to resume deportations despite restrictions imposed by the U.S. Supreme Court on the use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
In response, the organization has already initiated legal action to halt the deportations of two Venezuelans held at the Bluebonnet Detention Center. The ACLU is now seeking a judicial order to prohibit the removal of any immigrants in the region under this act. In an urgent filing, the ACLU highlighted that other Venezuelan detainees have been accused of being part of the Tren de Aragua gang, potentially subjecting them to deportation under President Donald Trump’s application of the law.
The Alien Enemies Act has been invoked only three times in American history, with its last use during World War II to intern Japanese-American civilians. The current administration asserts that the act allows them to deport immigrants identified as gang members swiftly, irrespective of their immigration status. Both the ACLU and Democracy Forward have filed lawsuits to stop deportations under this law. Although the U.S. Supreme Court permitted deportations to continue, it stipulated that individuals must be given the opportunity to contest their removal in court within a “reasonable time.”
Federal judges in Colorado, New York, and southern Texas have issued orders preventing the deportation of detainees under the act until the administration establishes a legal process for claims. However, no such order has been issued for the Texas area containing Bluebonnet, located 24 miles north of Abilene. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix recently declined to stop the removal of the two men in the ACLU lawsuit, as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) provided sworn declarations that they would not be immediately deported.
The ACLU’s latest filing includes declarations from three immigration attorneys who reported that their clients were given documentation suggesting they were members of the Tren de Aragua gang and could face deportation imminently. One attorney, Karene Brown, recounted that her Spanish-speaking client, referred to by initials, was asked to sign English documents. Brown stated that ICE informed the client the papers originated from the President and that deportation would proceed regardless of whether he signed.
The ACLU has asked Judge Hendrix to issue a temporary order to halt these deportations. ICE has chosen not to comment on the ongoing litigation.
Separately, a judge in Massachusetts has permanently banned the administration from deporting immigrants, who have exhausted their appeals, to countries other than their own without notifying them of their destination and allowing them to object if they face threats such as torture. Some countries, including Venezuela, have refused to accept deportees from the United States, prompting the administration to arrange alternative agreements with other nations, such as Panama, to house them. Some Venezuelans targeted under the Alien Enemies Act have been relocated to El Salvador, where they are held in its main prison.