Appeals Court Rules DJT Cannot Use Alien Enemies Act to Deport Venezuelans

A three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Donald Trump cannot use the wartime 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport immigrants the government accuses of affiliation with a Venezuelan gang.

The 5th Circuit is among the most conservative appeals courts. The panel said the Alien Enemies Act cannot be applied because they “found no invasion or predatory incursion” which the law requires in order to be invoked.

The ruling applies in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. Circuit Court Judges Leslie Southwick and Irma Carrillo Ramirez formed the majority while Andrew Oldham dissented. The ruling can be appealed to the full Court of Appeals or to the Supreme Court.

In mid-March 2025, the government abruptly sent planeloads of Venezuelan men to the notorious CECOT prison in El Salvador, claiming without evidence that they belong to the Tren de Aragua gang, despite a federal District Court order not to do so. The government then claimed it no longer had custody or control over the men, so it could not comply with USA courts ordering their return.

Despite the government’s claim that it no longer had any say over what happened to the men, in July it got 250 of them sent to Venezuela in return for the release of 10 from Venezuela to the USA. One of the 10 was a convicted murderer who now roams free.

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