JUST IN: Appeals Court Blocks Trump Admin’s Deportation Flights
A federal appellate court on Wednesday declined to issue a stay on a lower court’s decision in a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which gives the administration expanded powers to detain and deport foreign nationals suspected of having ties to foreign criminal organizations or terrorist groups.
In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel sided with the plaintiffs in the suit, placing further hinderance on the Trump Administration’s ability to swiftly deport criminal illegal aliens.
Judges Karen Henderson, Patricia Millett and Justin Walker of the D.C. Court of Appeals presided over oral arguments on Monday, which they agreed to hear on an expedited basis. Millett, an Obama appointee, appeared to be clearly on the side of the plaintiffs during Monday’s hearing, according to a report from Fox News.
The liberal judge frequently went back-and-forth with Justice Department lawyer Drew Ensign over the administration’s usage of the Alien Enemies Act. While the Trump administration had argued that the Tren de Aragua gang members who were deported have received support from the Venezuelan government to commit violent crimes and human smuggling on American soil, Judge Millett questioned whether their due process protections had been violated.
In a concurring opinion of the ruling, Henderson, a Bush appointee, said: “At this early stage, the government has yet to show a likelihood of success on the merits. The equities favor the plaintiffs. And the district court entered the TROs for a quintessentially valid purpose: to protect its remedial authority long enough to consider the parties’ arguments.”
He ultimately ruled to keep the lower court’s restrictions in place, setting up a potential Supreme Court review.
Attorney General Pam Bondi rebuked the lower court’s decision for getting involved in immigration issues, suggesting that an appeal to the Supreme Court will likely be on the way. “This is an out-of-control judge, a federal judge, trying to control our entire foreign policy, and he cannot do it,” Bondi said of the lower court’s TRO.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg issued a temporary restraining order against the administration last weekend, thus blocking the implementation of the Alien Enemies Act until further review. The judge, another Obama appointee, even attempted to order the administration to turn around deportation flights carrying violent gang members that were already in the air.
Republican lawmakers have since filed articles of impeachment against Boasberg, though it is highly unlikely that he will be removed from the bench.
