US judge bars Trump’s use of wartime law to deport Venezuelans

A federal judge in Texas ruled that US President Donald Trump improperly invoked a 227-year-old wartime law to deport accused Venezuelan gang members to an El Salvador prison, setting up what may become yet another high-stakes battle at the US Supreme Court.

US District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jnr, a Trump appointee, made the finding in a ruling Thursday shortly after certifying the case as a class action and barring the removal of suspected gang members from the US under the controversial Alien Enemies Act.

The ruling marks the first time that a US court has ruled on the merits of Trump’s effort to invoke the rarely used wartime powers law to send Venezuelan nationals that the administration alleges are members of the Tren de Aragua gang to a notorious prison in El Salvador.

Venezuelan immigrants across the US who face potential deportation have been arguing since March that Trump’s AEA proclamation was unlawful because the US isn’t at war or being invaded by a foreign force.

“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 said in the ruling.

Trump’s order “makes no reference to and in no manner suggests that a threat exists of an organised, 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”, the judge wrote.