Utopia Talk - Politics - Trump invokes Alien Enemies Act

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Utopia Talk / Politics / Trump invokes Alien Enemies Act

murder
Member Sat Mar 15 20:17:07
Invocation of the Alien Enemies Act Regarding the Invasion of The United States by Tren De Aragua

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

Tren de Aragua (TdA) is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization with thousands of members, many of whom have unlawfully infiltrated the United States and are conducting irregular warfare and undertaking hostile actions against the United States. TdA operates in conjunction with Cártel de los Soles, the Nicolas Maduro regime-sponsored, narco-terrorism enterprise based in Venezuela, and commits brutal crimes, including murders, kidnappings, extortions, and human, drug, and weapons trafficking. TdA has engaged in and continues to engage in mass illegal migration to the United States to further its objectives of harming United States citizens, undermining public safety, and supporting the Maduro regime’s goal of destabilizing democratic nations in the Americas, including the United States.

TdA is closely aligned with, and indeed has infiltrated, the Maduro regime, including its military and law enforcement apparatus. TdA grew significantly while Tareck El Aissami served as governor of Aragua between 2012 and 2017. In 2017, El Aissami was appointed as Vice President of Venezuela. Soon thereafter, the United States Department of the Treasury designated El Aissami as a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, 21 U.S.C. 1901 et seq. El Aissami is currently a United States fugitive facing charges arising from his violations of United States sanctions triggered by his Department of the Treasury designation.

Like El Aissami, Nicolas Maduro, who claims to act as Venezuela’s President and asserts control over the security forces and other authorities in Venezuela, also maintains close ties to regime-sponsored narco-terrorists. Maduro leads the regime-sponsored enterprise Cártel de los Soles, which coordinates with and relies on TdA and other organizations to carry out its objective of using illegal narcotics as a weapon to “flood” the United States. In 2020, Maduro and other regime members were charged with narcoterrorism and other crimes in connection with this plot against America.

Over the years, Venezuelan national and local authorities have ceded ever-greater control over their territories to transnational criminal organizations, including TdA. The result is a hybrid criminal state that is perpetrating an invasion of and predatory incursion into the United States, and which poses a substantial danger to the United States. Indeed, in December 2024, INTERPOL Washington confirmed: “Tren de Aragua has emerged as a significant threat to the United States as it infiltrates migration flows from Venezuela.” Evidence irrefutably demonstrates that TdA has invaded the United States and continues to invade, attempt to invade, and threaten to invade the country; perpetrated irregular warfare within the country; and used drug trafficking as a weapon against our citizens.

Based upon a review of TdA’s activities, and in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, on February 20, 2025, acting pursuant to the authority in 8 U.S.C. 1189, the Secretary of State designated TdA as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

As President of the United States and Commander in Chief, it is my solemn duty to protect the American people from the devastating effects of this invasion. NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Alien Enemies Act, 50 U.S.C. 21 et seq., hereby proclaim and direct as follows:

Section 1. I find and declare that TdA is perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States. TdA is undertaking hostile actions and conducting irregular warfare against the territory of the United States both directly and at the direction, clandestine or otherwise, of the Maduro regime in Venezuela. I make these findings using the full extent of my authority to conduct the Nation’s foreign affairs under the Constitution. Based on these findings, and by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including 50 U.S.C. 21, I proclaim that all Venezuelan citizens 14 years of age or older who are members of TdA, are within the United States, and are not actually naturalized or lawful permanent residents of the United States are liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as Alien Enemies. I further find and declare that all such members of TdA are, by virtue of their membership in that organization, chargeable with actual hostility against the United States and are therefore ineligible for the benefits of 50 U.S.C. 22. I further find and declare that all such members of TdA are a danger to the public peace or safety of the United States.

Sec. 2. I direct the Attorney General, within 60 days of the date of this proclamation, to prepare and publish a letter under her signature declaring the policy described in section 1 of this proclamation as the policy of the United States and attaching this proclamation. I direct the Attorney General to transmit this letter to the Chief Justice of the United States, the chief judge of every circuit court of appeals, the chief judge of every district and territorial court of the United States, each Governor of a State and territory of the United States, and the highest-ranking judicial officer of each State and territory of the United States.

Sec. 3. I direct that all Alien Enemies described in section 1 of this proclamation are subject to immediate apprehension, detention, and removal, and further that they shall not be permitted residence in the United States.

Sec. 4. Pursuant to the Alien Enemies Act, the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall, consistent with applicable law, apprehend, restrain, secure, and remove every Alien Enemy described in section 1 of this proclamation. The Secretary of Homeland Security retains discretion to apprehend and remove any Alien Enemy under any separate authority.

Sec. 5. All executive departments and agencies (agencies) shall collaborate with law enforcement officials of the United States and with appropriate State, local, and tribal officials, to use all lawful means to apprehend, restrain, secure, and remove Alien Enemies described in section 1 of this proclamation.

Sec. 6. Pursuant to my authority under 50 U.S.C. 21 to direct the conduct to be observed on the part of the United States toward the Alien Enemies subject to this proclamation, to direct the manner and degree of the restraint to which such Alien Enemies shall be subject and in what cases, to provide for the removal of such Alien Enemies, and to establish any other regulations which are found necessary “in the premises and for the public safety,” I hereby direct the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security to execute all the regulations hereinafter contained regarding the Alien Enemies described in section 1 of this proclamation. The Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security are further directed to cause the apprehension, detention, and removal of all members of TdA who otherwise qualify as Alien Enemies under section 1 of this proclamation. The Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security are authorized to take all necessary actions under the Alien Enemies Act to effectuate this proclamation, consistent with applicable law. In doing so, and for such purpose, they are authorized to utilize agents, agencies, and officers of the United States Government and of the several States, territories, dependencies, and municipalities thereof and of the District of Columbia. All such agents, agencies, and officers are hereby granted full authority for all acts done by them in the execution of such regulations when acting by direction of the Attorney General or the Secretary of Homeland Security, as the case may be.

Pursuant to the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Alien Enemies Act, 50 U.S.C. 21 et seq., I hereby declare and establish the following regulations which I find necessary “in the premises and for the public safety”:

(a) No Alien Enemy described in section 1 of this proclamation shall enter, attempt to enter, or be found within any territory subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Any such Alien Enemy who enters, attempts to enter, or is found within such territory shall be immediately apprehended and detained until removed from the United States. All such Alien Enemies, wherever found within any territory subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, are subject to summary apprehension.

(b) Alien Enemies apprehended pursuant to this proclamation shall be subject to detention until removed from the United States in such place of detention as may be directed by the officers responsible for the execution of these regulations.

(c) Alien Enemies shall be subject to removal to any such location as may be directed by the officers responsible for the execution of these regulations consistent with applicable law.

(d) All property in the possession of, or traceable to, an Alien Enemy, which is used, intended to be used, or is commonly used to perpetrate the hostile activity and irregular warfare of TdA, along with evidence of such hostile activity and irregular warfare, shall be subject to seizure and forfeiture.

The Attorney General is further granted authority, pursuant to the Alien Enemies Act and 3 U.S.C. 301, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, to issue any guidance necessary to effectuate the prompt apprehension, detention, and removal of all Alien Enemies described in section 1 of this proclamation. Any such guidance shall be effective immediately upon issuance by the Attorney General.

This proclamation and the directives and regulations prescribed herein shall extend and apply to all land and water, continental or insular, in any way within the jurisdiction of the United States.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fourteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.

http://www...ited-states-by-tren-de-aragua/

murder
Member Sat Mar 15 20:18:38

Federal judge halts deportations after Trump invokes Alien Enemies Act

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered the return of planes already headed to Central America.

A federal judge has ordered an immediate hold on efforts by President Donald Trump to quickly deport Venezuelan nationals under rarely used wartime powers intended to resist a foreign invasion — and demanded the return of planes already headed to Central America.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg on Saturday ordered the Trump administration to immediately halt efforts to remove those Venezuelan migrants until he has more time to consider whether Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act was illegal.

The lawsuit, brought on behalf of five named Venezuelan immigrants, was provisionally turned into a class action — meaning it serves as a block on deportation of all non-citizens in U.S. custody who are subject to Trump’s proclamation invoking the rarely-used law.

“Any plane containing these folks that is going to take off or is in the air needs to be returned to the United States however that is accomplished,” Boasberg announced. “Make sure it’s complied with immediately.”

Two aircraft believed to be carrying Venezuelan deportees took off from an airport in Harlingen, Texas, during a break in a video hearing Boasberg conducted Saturday for the lawsuit filed by immigrant-rights advocates. According to flight tracking databases, one plane was bound for San Salvador, El Salvador, and the other for Comayagua, Honduras, and they were in the air nearing their destinations as Boasberg issued his order.

Boasberg said there are serious legal questions about Trump’s rationale for invoking the 1798 law — used only three times in American history — by labeling the criminal gang Tren de Aragua the equivalent of a foreign government.

The temporary restraining order granted by Boasberg will expire in 14 days, which he said would be enough time to litigate the legality of Trump’s order. He set a further hearing on the merits of the case for late next week.

“Today was a horrific day in the history of the nation, when the President publicized that he was seeking to invoke extraordinary wartime powers in the absence of a war or invasion and claiming virtually unlimited authority to remove people from the country. But, tonight the rule of law prevailed,” said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, a national legal organization.

Trump’s proclamation — which was released by the White House Saturday afternoon but signed Friday — relies on the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which is meant to quickly remove foreigners during wartime or invasion, and comes hours after a preemptive order from a federal judge barred the five Venezuelan nationals from being deported immediately. It’s the latest sweeping executive action from the White House designed to speed up Trump’s efforts to deport millions of undocumented immigrants from the country. The Justice Department argued that the president could unilaterally determine who poses a significant risk to the United States given his inherent authority as president over national security.

“I find and declare that TdA is perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States,” Trump wrote in his declaration.

The order directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to sign a letter within 60 days declaring this U.S. policy, and for the letter to be sent to every judge, including the justices on the Supreme Court, as well as the governor of every state.

Every immigrant that meets the description outlined in the order “are subject to immediate apprehension, detention, and removal.” It is not clear how many members of Tren de Aragua are currently in the United States — or how the government will make such designations.

Trump repeatedly suggested during his campaign he may turn to the Alien Enemies Act to aid his mass deportation plans, a promise he reiterated on Inauguration Day. The president said on Jan. 20 that he would use the wartime law to “direct our government to use the full and immense power of federal and state law enforcement to eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks bringing devastating crime to U.S. soil, including our cities and inner cities.” He also moved last month to designate eight Latin American cartels, including Tren de Aragua, as foreign terrorist organizations.

“We’ll be reading a lot of stories tomorrow about what we’ve done with them,” Trump said at the Justice Department on Friday, speaking about Tren De Aragua. “You’ll be very impressed, and you feel a lot safer, because they are a vicious group.”

Hours before the president’s proclamation was published online, Boasberg issued an urgent ruling blocking the deportations of the five named plaintiffs in the suit. He cited “exigent circumstances” and scheduled a hearing on the issue for later in the afternoon.

The lawsuit, filed by Democracy Forward and the ACLU, emphasizes that the Alien Enemies Act has only been invoked during wartime — the War of 1812, World War I and World War II. The initial order by Boasberg was issued with unusual urgency, before the Trump administration had a chance to respond.

But the administration quickly filed with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, asking Saturday afternoon for an emergency stay of Boasberg’s morning ruling. In its motion, the administration said the argument over the use of the Alien Enemies Act was hypothetical — which is no longer the case — and “fundamentally a political question to be resolved by the President.”

Immigrant-rights advocates said the order could subject “countless Venezuelans” to “imminent risk of deportation without any hearing or meaningful review.”

The centuries-old law allows the government to arrest, detain and deport undocumented migrants over the age of 14 who come from countries threatening an “invasion or predatory incursion” of the United States.

Those targeted under the wartime law would be swiftly deported and would not be allowed to have an asylum interview or an immigration court hearing. They would instead be detained and deported with little due process.

“There is so much urgency here, and so much harm at stake,” said ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt, who is representing the Venezuelan nationals, at a Saturday hearing. “The government appears to be moving planes very rapidly, our understanding is that planes are going right now.”

Flight tracking databases showed several flights scheduled to depart from Valley International Airport in Harlingen on planes operated by a company that contracts with Immigration & Customs Enforcement to do deportation flights.

Video posted online Saturday showed a bus departing the El Valle detention center in Raymondville, Texas, accompanied by law enforcement vehicles. Immigration lawyer Jaime Diez said he recorded the images of immigrants from being transferred for deportation under high security just after 2 p.m. Central Time Saturday.

“There was a helicopter following them,” Diez said. “There was a lot of activity going down there …. here was a showing of force to make sure nothing happened.”

Earlier Saturday, Diez won an order from a federal judge in Brownsville, Texas, barring the deportation of Venezuelan Daniel Zacarias Matos. According to a court filing, Zacarias Matos was told Friday he was being taken to the airport to be deported “due to an order from the President,” but the flight didn’t take off because “it did not pass an inspection.”

http://www...p-deportation-lawsuit-00232121

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murder Member	Sat Mar 15 20:17:07 Invocation of the Alien Enemies Act Regarding the Invasion of The United States by Tren De Aragua BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION Tren de Aragua (TdA) is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization with thousands of members, many of whom have unlawfully infiltrated the United States and are conducting irregular warfare and undertaking hostile actions against the United States. TdA operates in conjunction with Cártel de los Soles, the Nicolas Maduro regime-sponsored, narco-terrorism enterprise based in Venezuela, and commits brutal crimes, including murders, kidnappings, extortions, and human, drug, and weapons trafficking. TdA has engaged in and continues to engage in mass illegal migration to the United States to further its objectives of harming United States citizens, undermining public safety, and supporting the Maduro regime’s goal of destabilizing democratic nations in the Americas, including the United States. TdA is closely aligned with, and indeed has infiltrated, the Maduro regime, including its military and law enforcement apparatus. TdA grew significantly while Tareck El Aissami served as governor of Aragua between 2012 and 2017. In 2017, El Aissami was appointed as Vice President of Venezuela. Soon thereafter, the United States Department of the Treasury designated El Aissami as a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, 21 U.S.C. 1901 et seq. El Aissami is currently a United States fugitive facing charges arising from his violations of United States sanctions triggered by his Department of the Treasury designation. Like El Aissami, Nicolas Maduro, who claims to act as Venezuela’s President and asserts control over the security forces and other authorities in Venezuela, also maintains close ties to regime-sponsored narco-terrorists. Maduro leads the regime-sponsored enterprise Cártel de los Soles, which coordinates with and relies on TdA and other organizations to carry out its objective of using illegal narcotics as a weapon to “flood” the United States. In 2020, Maduro and other regime members were charged with narcoterrorism and other crimes in connection with this plot against America. Over the years, Venezuelan national and local authorities have ceded ever-greater control over their territories to transnational criminal organizations, including TdA. The result is a hybrid criminal state that is perpetrating an invasion of and predatory incursion into the United States, and which poses a substantial danger to the United States. Indeed, in December 2024, INTERPOL Washington confirmed: “Tren de Aragua has emerged as a significant threat to the United States as it infiltrates migration flows from Venezuela.” Evidence irrefutably demonstrates that TdA has invaded the United States and continues to invade, attempt to invade, and threaten to invade the country; perpetrated irregular warfare within the country; and used drug trafficking as a weapon against our citizens. Based upon a review of TdA’s activities, and in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, on February 20, 2025, acting pursuant to the authority in 8 U.S.C. 1189, the Secretary of State designated TdA as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. As President of the United States and Commander in Chief, it is my solemn duty to protect the American people from the devastating effects of this invasion. NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Alien Enemies Act, 50 U.S.C. 21 et seq., hereby proclaim and direct as follows: Section 1. I find and declare that TdA is perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States. TdA is undertaking hostile actions and conducting irregular warfare against the territory of the United States both directly and at the direction, clandestine or otherwise, of the Maduro regime in Venezuela. I make these findings using the full extent of my authority to conduct the Nation’s foreign affairs under the Constitution. Based on these findings, and by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including 50 U.S.C. 21, I proclaim that all Venezuelan citizens 14 years of age or older who are members of TdA, are within the United States, and are not actually naturalized or lawful permanent residents of the United States are liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as Alien Enemies. I further find and declare that all such members of TdA are, by virtue of their membership in that organization, chargeable with actual hostility against the United States and are therefore ineligible for the benefits of 50 U.S.C. 22. I further find and declare that all such members of TdA are a danger to the public peace or safety of the United States. Sec. 2. I direct the Attorney General, within 60 days of the date of this proclamation, to prepare and publish a letter under her signature declaring the policy described in section 1 of this proclamation as the policy of the United States and attaching this proclamation. I direct the Attorney General to transmit this letter to the Chief Justice of the United States, the chief judge of every circuit court of appeals, the chief judge of every district and territorial court of the United States, each Governor of a State and territory of the United States, and the highest-ranking judicial officer of each State and territory of the United States. Sec. 3. I direct that all Alien Enemies described in section 1 of this proclamation are subject to immediate apprehension, detention, and removal, and further that they shall not be permitted residence in the United States. Sec. 4. Pursuant to the Alien Enemies Act, the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall, consistent with applicable law, apprehend, restrain, secure, and remove every Alien Enemy described in section 1 of this proclamation. The Secretary of Homeland Security retains discretion to apprehend and remove any Alien Enemy under any separate authority. Sec. 5. All executive departments and agencies (agencies) shall collaborate with law enforcement officials of the United States and with appropriate State, local, and tribal officials, to use all lawful means to apprehend, restrain, secure, and remove Alien Enemies described in section 1 of this proclamation. Sec. 6. Pursuant to my authority under 50 U.S.C. 21 to direct the conduct to be observed on the part of the United States toward the Alien Enemies subject to this proclamation, to direct the manner and degree of the restraint to which such Alien Enemies shall be subject and in what cases, to provide for the removal of such Alien Enemies, and to establish any other regulations which are found necessary “in the premises and for the public safety,” I hereby direct the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security to execute all the regulations hereinafter contained regarding the Alien Enemies described in section 1 of this proclamation. The Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security are further directed to cause the apprehension, detention, and removal of all members of TdA who otherwise qualify as Alien Enemies under section 1 of this proclamation. The Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security are authorized to take all necessary actions under the Alien Enemies Act to effectuate this proclamation, consistent with applicable law. In doing so, and for such purpose, they are authorized to utilize agents, agencies, and officers of the United States Government and of the several States, territories, dependencies, and municipalities thereof and of the District of Columbia. All such agents, agencies, and officers are hereby granted full authority for all acts done by them in the execution of such regulations when acting by direction of the Attorney General or the Secretary of Homeland Security, as the case may be. Pursuant to the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Alien Enemies Act, 50 U.S.C. 21 et seq., I hereby declare and establish the following regulations which I find necessary “in the premises and for the public safety”: (a) No Alien Enemy described in section 1 of this proclamation shall enter, attempt to enter, or be found within any territory subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Any such Alien Enemy who enters, attempts to enter, or is found within such territory shall be immediately apprehended and detained until removed from the United States. All such Alien Enemies, wherever found within any territory subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, are subject to summary apprehension. (b) Alien Enemies apprehended pursuant to this proclamation shall be subject to detention until removed from the United States in such place of detention as may be directed by the officers responsible for the execution of these regulations. (c) Alien Enemies shall be subject to removal to any such location as may be directed by the officers responsible for the execution of these regulations consistent with applicable law. (d) All property in the possession of, or traceable to, an Alien Enemy, which is used, intended to be used, or is commonly used to perpetrate the hostile activity and irregular warfare of TdA, along with evidence of such hostile activity and irregular warfare, shall be subject to seizure and forfeiture. The Attorney General is further granted authority, pursuant to the Alien Enemies Act and 3 U.S.C. 301, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, to issue any guidance necessary to effectuate the prompt apprehension, detention, and removal of all Alien Enemies described in section 1 of this proclamation. Any such guidance shall be effective immediately upon issuance by the Attorney General. This proclamation and the directives and regulations prescribed herein shall extend and apply to all land and water, continental or insular, in any way within the jurisdiction of the United States. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fourteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth. http://www...ited-states-by-tren-de-aragua/
murder Member	Sat Mar 15 20:18:38 Federal judge halts deportations after Trump invokes Alien Enemies Act U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered the return of planes already headed to Central America. A federal judge has ordered an immediate hold on efforts by President Donald Trump to quickly deport Venezuelan nationals under rarely used wartime powers intended to resist a foreign invasion — and demanded the return of planes already headed to Central America. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg on Saturday ordered the Trump administration to immediately halt efforts to remove those Venezuelan migrants until he has more time to consider whether Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act was illegal. The lawsuit, brought on behalf of five named Venezuelan immigrants, was provisionally turned into a class action — meaning it serves as a block on deportation of all non-citizens in U.S. custody who are subject to Trump’s proclamation invoking the rarely-used law. “Any plane containing these folks that is going to take off or is in the air needs to be returned to the United States however that is accomplished,” Boasberg announced. “Make sure it’s complied with immediately.” Two aircraft believed to be carrying Venezuelan deportees took off from an airport in Harlingen, Texas, during a break in a video hearing Boasberg conducted Saturday for the lawsuit filed by immigrant-rights advocates. According to flight tracking databases, one plane was bound for San Salvador, El Salvador, and the other for Comayagua, Honduras, and they were in the air nearing their destinations as Boasberg issued his order. Boasberg said there are serious legal questions about Trump’s rationale for invoking the 1798 law — used only three times in American history — by labeling the criminal gang Tren de Aragua the equivalent of a foreign government. The temporary restraining order granted by Boasberg will expire in 14 days, which he said would be enough time to litigate the legality of Trump’s order. He set a further hearing on the merits of the case for late next week. “Today was a horrific day in the history of the nation, when the President publicized that he was seeking to invoke extraordinary wartime powers in the absence of a war or invasion and claiming virtually unlimited authority to remove people from the country. But, tonight the rule of law prevailed,” said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, a national legal organization. Trump’s proclamation — which was released by the White House Saturday afternoon but signed Friday — relies on the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which is meant to quickly remove foreigners during wartime or invasion, and comes hours after a preemptive order from a federal judge barred the five Venezuelan nationals from being deported immediately. It’s the latest sweeping executive action from the White House designed to speed up Trump’s efforts to deport millions of undocumented immigrants from the country. The Justice Department argued that the president could unilaterally determine who poses a significant risk to the United States given his inherent authority as president over national security. “I find and declare that TdA is perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States,” Trump wrote in his declaration. The order directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to sign a letter within 60 days declaring this U.S. policy, and for the letter to be sent to every judge, including the justices on the Supreme Court, as well as the governor of every state. Every immigrant that meets the description outlined in the order “are subject to immediate apprehension, detention, and removal.” It is not clear how many members of Tren de Aragua are currently in the United States — or how the government will make such designations. Trump repeatedly suggested during his campaign he may turn to the Alien Enemies Act to aid his mass deportation plans, a promise he reiterated on Inauguration Day. The president said on Jan. 20 that he would use the wartime law to “direct our government to use the full and immense power of federal and state law enforcement to eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks bringing devastating crime to U.S. soil, including our cities and inner cities.” He also moved last month to designate eight Latin American cartels, including Tren de Aragua, as foreign terrorist organizations. “We’ll be reading a lot of stories tomorrow about what we’ve done with them,” Trump said at the Justice Department on Friday, speaking about Tren De Aragua. “You’ll be very impressed, and you feel a lot safer, because they are a vicious group.” Hours before the president’s proclamation was published online, Boasberg issued an urgent ruling blocking the deportations of the five named plaintiffs in the suit. He cited “exigent circumstances” and scheduled a hearing on the issue for later in the afternoon. The lawsuit, filed by Democracy Forward and the ACLU, emphasizes that the Alien Enemies Act has only been invoked during wartime — the War of 1812, World War I and World War II. The initial order by Boasberg was issued with unusual urgency, before the Trump administration had a chance to respond. But the administration quickly filed with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, asking Saturday afternoon for an emergency stay of Boasberg’s morning ruling. In its motion, the administration said the argument over the use of the Alien Enemies Act was hypothetical — which is no longer the case — and “fundamentally a political question to be resolved by the President.” Immigrant-rights advocates said the order could subject “countless Venezuelans” to “imminent risk of deportation without any hearing or meaningful review.” The centuries-old law allows the government to arrest, detain and deport undocumented migrants over the age of 14 who come from countries threatening an “invasion or predatory incursion” of the United States. Those targeted under the wartime law would be swiftly deported and would not be allowed to have an asylum interview or an immigration court hearing. They would instead be detained and deported with little due process. “There is so much urgency here, and so much harm at stake,” said ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt, who is representing the Venezuelan nationals, at a Saturday hearing. “The government appears to be moving planes very rapidly, our understanding is that planes are going right now.” Flight tracking databases showed several flights scheduled to depart from Valley International Airport in Harlingen on planes operated by a company that contracts with Immigration & Customs Enforcement to do deportation flights. Video posted online Saturday showed a bus departing the El Valle detention center in Raymondville, Texas, accompanied by law enforcement vehicles. Immigration lawyer Jaime Diez said he recorded the images of immigrants from being transferred for deportation under high security just after 2 p.m. Central Time Saturday. “There was a helicopter following them,” Diez said. “There was a lot of activity going down there …. here was a showing of force to make sure nothing happened.” Earlier Saturday, Diez won an order from a federal judge in Brownsville, Texas, barring the deportation of Venezuelan Daniel Zacarias Matos. According to a court filing, Zacarias Matos was told Friday he was being taken to the airport to be deported “due to an order from the President,” but the flight didn’t take off because “it did not pass an inspection.” http://www...p-deportation-lawsuit-00232121
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