U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and other Justice Department officials say that a federal judge exceeded his authority with his decision.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi filed an emergency motion on behalf of the Trump administration to dissolve a federal judge’s order on Saturday that blocked President Donald Trump from invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
In a motion filed Sunday, Bondi and her staff accused U.S. District Judge James Boasberg of implementing “an unprecedented, nationwide temporary restraining order” that halted deportations of illegal immigrants associated with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua under the 18th-century law. The motion argued that Boasberg initiated a “massive, unauthorized imposition” on the executive branch’s authority.
“This Court should halt this unprecedented intrusion upon the Executive’s authority to remove dangerous aliens who pose grave threats to the American people,” they wrote in their emergency petition, submitted to the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia.
On Saturday, Boasberg said that he needed to issue his order immediately because the government already was deporting illegal immigrants it considers deportable under Trump’s proclamation to El Salvador and Honduras to be incarcerated. El Salvador already agreed this week to take up to 300 illegal immigrants that the Trump administration designated as gang members.
“I do not believe I can wait any longer and am required to act,” Boasberg said during a Saturday evening hearing in a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Democracy Forward. “A brief delay in their removal does not cause the government any harm,” he said, noting they remain in government custody. He ordered that any planes in the air be turned around.
The ruling came hours after Trump issued an order saying that the Venezuelan gang, designated as a foreign terrorist organization several weeks ago, was invading the United States and invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a wartime authority that allows the president broader leeway on policy and executive action to speed up mass deportations.
The act has only been used three times before, all during wars. Its most recent application was during World War II, when it was used to incarcerate Germans and Italians as well as for the mass internment of Japanese-American civilians.
“Over the years, Venezuelan national and local authorities have ceded ever-greater control over their territories to transnational criminal organizations, including TdA,” Trump’s statement said, referring to Tren de Aragua. “The result is a hybrid criminal state that is perpetrating an invasion of and predatory incursion into the United States, and which poses a substantial danger to the United States.”
In the emergency petition against Boasberg’s order, the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawyers argued that he did not give the government “sufficient time” to respond to motions filed by the ACLU and other plaintiffs.
“Effective, efficient removal of enemy aliens linked to an FTO (foreign terrorist organization) when that opportunity is available is a key priority for the United States, and avoids exposing U.S. residents to severe harm,” they argued, in part.
Bondi released a separate statement Saturday night that was critical of Boasberg’s decision, saying that her office will work with the White House and other federal agencies to prevent Tren de Aragua from entering and operating within the United States.
“This order disregards well-established authority regarding President Trump’s power, and it puts the public and law enforcement at risk,” her statement said.
Signed into law by second President John Adams in 1798, the Alien Enemies Act was a portion of the four-part Alien and Sedition Acts that restricted immigration and speech in the United States. The Enemies Act provided the president with the capacity to detain non-citizens during times of war. Adams applied the law during an undeclared naval war with France between 1798 and 1800.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.