Texas judge rules Trump's use of Alien Enemies Act 'unlawful,' says it 'exceeds the scope of the statute'

A Texas-based federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from carrying out deportations under the Alien Enemies Act (AEA), which Trump invoked in March over the presence of Tren de Aragua gang members in the country.

US District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr wrote in his Thursday ruling, "The question that this lawsuit presents is whether the President can utilize a specific statute, the AEA, to detain and remove Venezuelan aliens who are members of TdA. As to that question, the historical record renders clear that the President’s invocation of the AEA through the Proclamation exceeds the scope of the statute and is contrary to the plain, ordinary meaning of the statute’s terms."

Rodriguez stated that historical records presented by the parties, as well as additional records reviewed by the court, "demonstrate that at the time of the AEA’s enactment, the plain, ordinary meaning of 'invasion' was an entry into the nation’s territory by a military force or an organized, armed force, with the purpose of conquering or obtaining control over territory."

"In a similar vein, the common usage of 'predatory incursion' and, to a lesser degree, 'incursion,' referenced a military force or an organized, armed force entering a territory to destroy property, plunder, and harm individuals, with a subsequent retreat from that territory. Although other uses exist for these terms, those rare uses do not represent the ordinary meaning of those terms."

Rodriquez wrote that the proclamation issued by Trump "makes no reference to and in no manner suggests that a threat exists of an organized, armed group of individuals entering the United States at the direction of Venezuela to conquer the country or assume control over a portion of the nation. Thus, the Proclamation’s language cannot be read as describing conduct that falls within the meaning of 'invasion' for purposes of the AEA."

"While the Proclamation references that TdA members have harmed lives in the United States and engage in crime, the Proclamation does not suggest that they have done so through an organized armed attack, or that Venezuela has threatened or attempted such an attack through TdA members. As a result, the Proclamation also falls short of describing a 'predatory incursion' as that concept was understood at the time of the AEA’s enactment."

Rodriquez concluded that the invocation of the act "exceeds the scope of the statute" and is unlawful.

Rodriguez’s ruling only covers his southern Texas-based district. The Trump administration can appeal the decision to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, which Politico noted is the most conservative federal appeals court in the country.

Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr Ruling by Hannah Nightingale on Scribd