A federal judge in Texas ruled that the Trump administration exceeded the scope of the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act by using it to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members, issuing a preliminary injunction to halt such actions.
U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez, a Trump appointee, stated in a 36-page opinion that the presence of the Tren de Aragua gang does not constitute an “invasion” or “predatory incursion” under the law, rendering the administration’s March 2025 proclamation invalid.
In a first-of-its-kind ruling, a Trump-appointed judge says the president's use of the Alien Enemies Act to speed deportations is unlawful https://t.co/JppKQerNYr
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) May 1, 2025The ruling follows the deportation of 137 Venezuelans from El Valle Detention Centre on March 15, many of whom, according to relatives and lawyers, were not gang members and lacked opportunities to contest allegations.
Read: US Judge Blocks Trump’s Rapid Deportation Policy
The decision aligns with an April 7, 2025, U.S. Supreme Court ruling mandating court challenges for future deportations under the Act, historically used during World War II to intern Japanese, German, and Italian descendants. Rodriguez’s injunction, issued in Brownsville, Texas, is more enduring than temporary orders previously set in Colorado, Manhattan, and Pennsylvania. Neither the White House nor the Justice Department has commented.
#Texas Judge Blocks Trump’s Use of Alien Enemies Act in Deportations, Escalating Legal Battle. Gang members entering the USA with guns, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, committing crimes against humanity including holding people hostage and taking over apartment… pic.twitter.com/RFiVH9gMNo
— @BeeNewsDailyB (@BeenewsdailyB) May 1, 2025The ruling represents an important limit on Trump’s immigration policies, questioning the legal confines of deportation measures.
