A federal judge issued a ruling Tuesday affirming that President Donald Trump and his administration acted within the scope of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act when they used it to swiftly deport individuals believed to be members of the Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang.
Judge Stephanie Haines determined that the administration’s interpretation of TdA’s entry into the U.S. aligned with the 18th-century statute’s meaning of “predatory incursions.” However, she also concluded that proper legal notice was not given to each person facing deportation.
“In light of all of the foregoing, this Court reaches the following definition of ‘predatory incursion’ under the AEA: ‘a hostile entry into the United States by a cohesive group of individuals, such as a military detachment or a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization [FTO], who are united by a common goal of causing significant disruption to the public safety — whether that be the safety of persons, property, or pecuniary interests — of those within the United States,” Haines said in her ruling. “The Court finds that that definition is faithful to the meaning of ‘predatory incursions’ in 1798, but it also accounts for new applications given ‘changes in the world.’”
Her decision referenced supporting evidence found in the documentation provided to the court, including the proclamation issued by President Trump in March, which she said presented credible grounds for his conclusions.
“Most of all, the Proclamation references the fact that the Secretary of State has designated TdA as an FTO pursuant to Title 8, United States Code, Section 1189, a designation that heavily supports the conclusions within the Proclamation that TdA is a cohesive group united by a common goal of causing significant disruption to the public safety of the United States,” the court document added.
Additionally, the court acknowledged that the proclamation and related materials offered sufficient basis to classify TdA’s actions as a “predatory incursion” under the criteria laid out in the Alien Enemies Act.
Still, Haines emphasized in the ruling that due process obligations remain. She wrote that “respondents must provide to detainees who are subject to the AEA and the Proclamation,” 21 days’ advance notice and a chance to challenge their removal. The notification must also specify that the individual is being removed under the authority of both the Proclamation and the Alien Enemies Act.
Further, detainees must receive these notices in both English and Spanish, the primary language of most individuals affected. Interpreters are to be made available during proceedings if necessary, the judge ordered.
President Trump activated the Alien Enemies Act in March through a Proclamation titled “Invocation of the Alien Enemies Act Regarding the Invasion of The United States by Tren De Aragua.” In it, Trump asserted that 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.”
The Proclamation continues in part: “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.”
Trump stated within the Proclamation that he concluded and declared TdA to be “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,” Trump said.
In the weeks since the Proclamation was issued, legal pushback has emerged. A number of judges have attempted to prevent the administration from carrying out deportations of suspected Venezuelan gang members under the Alien Enemies Act.
However, in April, the Supreme Court overturned a ruling from U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, clearing the way for the Trump administration to resume deportations of alleged illegal gang members under the authority of the Act.

{Matzav.com}