New legal obstacle to the mass deportations of Donald Trump. A federal district judge in Texas has determined this Thursday that it is “illegal” to use the law of foreign enemies of 1798 to expel Venezuelan citizens from the territory. The magistrate, appointed by Trump in his first presidency, is the first to issue a categorical failure against the controversial norm, whose invocation was devised by Stephen Miller, the influential national security advisor of the Republican president.
The 18th century norm has been used by the government to quickly expel South Americans under the suspicion of belonging to the criminal organization of Aragua, a transnational gang that Trump has set as a goal. The president considered a decree signed in March that this band had invaded the United States, and that he had sufficient authority to withdraw his members from the country with hardly any judicial processes.
Judge Fernando Rodríguez Jr., from the South Texas District, recognizes the discretionary authority of the Executive to stop and deport foreigners who commit crimes or have criminal activities within the country. But it disagrees in the use of the norm, which had been reserved for times when the country was at war. The last time it was used was in World War II, when its employment caused excesses and demands that arrived, over time, before the Supreme Court for human rights violations.
“The decree [de Trump] He proclaims that Venezuela, through Nicolás Maduro, directs and controls the activities of the Aragua Train in the United States, “says Rodríguez in his ruling.” But this Court considers that this type of activities do not adhere to the simplest meaning of ‘invasion’ or ‘predatory incursion Statute areas, so it is illegal, ”Rodríguez Jr. determines in his ruling, of 36 pages.
Rodríguez Jr. has deepened Thursday in an initial ruling that he made in April, when he temporarily blocked the deportations of three Venezuelan citizens accused of belonging to the Aragua train and held in a migratory detention center in southern Texas. That decision protected the complainants of a summary deportation, without having been notified with enough time to legally defend themselves.
The Supreme Court lifted in early April a precautionary measure that blocked the use of the Law of Foreign Enemies for Deportations. The constitutional judges rejected in a divided vote to enter the bottom of the matter, but agreed that the legal resources against this law should let off steam in Texas and not in the Columbia district, where the first lawsuit against the Trump administration was filed.
The White House has not responded at the moment to Rodríguez’s ruling, which becomes the first and most important judge before said rule. The administration, which has fought the judges who have suspended Trump’s migratory measures, can still appeal to the decision. This resource would fall into the hands of the fifth circuit, based in New Orleans, a very favorable court for conservatives that has a long setback history to the presidencies of Barack Obama and Joe Biden on immigration issues.
There are some reactions that have applauded the magistrate’s decision. The Hispanic Caucus of Congress has ensured that the ruling confirms that “the Trump administration has illegally used this rule to deport people without due process.” “All those who have been illegally deported must be returned. Those who face criminal charges must be tried in a court and those who face deportation must enjoy a procedure in a migration court,” said legislators on social networks.
