DC Circuit Upholds District Court Order Blocking Deportations Under The Alien Enemies Act

A prison guard transfers deportees from the U.S., alleged to be Venezuelan gang members, to the Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador. Mar. 16, 2025 (El Salvador Presidential Press Office)

 

Earlier today, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit upheld a district court temporary restraining order blocking the Trump Administration from using the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport Venezuelan migrants it claims are members of the Tren de Aragua drug gang. The Alien Enemies Act is the only one of the notorious Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 still in force. But the Act can only be used in the event of a declared war, or an "invasion" or "predatory incursion" perpetrated by a "foreign nation or government."