US District Judge James Boasberg denied an emergency request from lawyers for alleged Venezuelan gang members Thursday seeking to block “imminent” deportations under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing suspected Tren de Aragua gang members being detained in Texas, had asked Boasberg to issue a temporary restraining order requiring 30 days’ notice from the Trump administration before any of their clients are deported under the 18th-century law after learning the removal notices had recently been issued to detainees.
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“I’m sympathetic to your conundrum, but I don’t think I have the power to do anything about it,” Boasberg said during an emergency hearing in the District Court for Washington, DC.
The judge noted that a Supreme Court ruling earlier this month, which lifted his pause on the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act, determined that if “detainees are confined in Texas … venue is improper in the District of Columbia.”
Boasberg also received assurances from the Trump administration that no deportation flights under the rarely used wartime law would take place Friday night.
“I’ve also been told that there are no flights tonight, and that the people I spoke to were not aware of any plans for flights tomorrow,” Justice Department official Drew Ensign told the court.
After a recess, Ensign clarified that after contacting the Department of Homeland Security, he was “told to say that they reserve the right to remove people tomorrow.”
“It is very concerning, but at this point I just don’t think I have the ability to grant relief to the plaintiffs,” Boasberg said. “I just don’t really see how you’re asking me to do anything different from what the Supreme Court said I couldn’t do.”
The judge issued an order formally denying the ACLU’s request after the hearing.
The ACLU has separately petitioned the Supreme Court and a federal appeals court seeking the same temporary restraining order.
“Late last night and early today, Plaintiffs learned that the government has begun giving notices of removal to class members, in English only, which do not say how much time individuals have to contest their removal or even how to do so,” the ACLU’s motion to the DC district court stated.
“And officers last night told class members that they will be removed within 24 hours, which expires as early as this afternoon,” the filing continued.
“Upon information and belief, individuals have already been loaded on to buses.”
The ACLU also cited a Friday night ABC News report indicating that Plans for more deportations under the Alien Enemies Act are underway and flights are “imminent,” according to a US official.
“We are not going to reveal the details of counter terrorism operations, but we are complying with the Supreme Court’s ruling,” Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told The Post.
Boasberg blocked President Trump from invoking the rarely used wartime law last month but his temporary restraining order was lifted by the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision on April 7.
The high court ruled that the Trump administration could resume deportations of alleged Tren de Aragua gang members under the Alien Enemies Act so long as detainees can challenge their removal.
The Supreme Court ordered that anyone the Trump administration is seeking to deport under the Alien Enemies Act must be afforded notice “within a reasonable time and in such a manner as will allow them to actually seek [a court hearing] in the proper venue before such removal occurs.”
The American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the suspected Venezuelan gang members slated for deportation, claims the Trump administration has refused to provide any information about the removal notices their clients allegedly received.
They fear their clients will be sent to El Salvador’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) without an opportunity to challenge their removal.
“Without this Court’s immediate intervention, dozens or hundreds of class members may be removed to CECOT within hours — all without any real opportunity to seek judicial review, in defiance of due process and the Supreme Court’s order,” the motion stated.
The ACLU said the migrants currently facing deportation are being held at Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Bluebonnet Detention Facility in Anson, Texas.
The group said the district court in the Northern District of Texas, where Bluebonnet is located, has refused to act on an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order, which is why it is petitioning the court in DC.
“The Court should immediately issue the temporary restraining order requiring the government to give each class member and class counsel 30 days’ notice, in both English and Spanish, before taking any action to remove a class member from the United States,” the ACLU demanded.
