Federal judge OKs use of Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans who are labeled gang members

A federal judge says President Donald Trump can use the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan citizens who are shown to be members of the Tren de Aragua gang.

The ruling Tuesday from U.S. District Judge Stephanie Haines in Pennsylvania appears to be the first time a federal judge has signed off on Trump’s proclamation calling Tren de Aragua a foreign terrorist organization and invoking the 18th century wartime law to deport people labeled as being members of the gang.

At least three other federal judges have said Trump was improperly using the Alien Enemies Act to speed deportations of people the administration says are Venezuelan gang members.

Haines, a Trump appointee, also said the administration hasn’t been giving enough notice to people facing removal under the AEA. She ordered the administration to provide at least 21 days notice — far longer than the 12 hours that some deportees have been given.

“This case poses significant issues that are deeply interwoven with the constitutional principles upon which this Nation’s government is founded,” Haines wrote. “In approaching these issues, the Court begins by stressing the questions that it is not resolving at this time.”

The ruling doesn’t address whether the administration can remove people under other immigration laws, nor does it address whether Trump can invoke the Alien Enemies Act to deport people who simply migrated to the U.S. and who aren’t members of a foreign terrorist organization, Haines wrote. She also did not weigh in on whether people suspected of being members of other gangs could be removed under the act.

But she did say the Act can be used to remove Venezuelan citizens who are at least 14 years old, who are in the U.S. without legal immigration status, and who are members of Tren de Aragua.

“Having done its job, the Court now leaves it to the Political Branches of the government, and ultimately to the people who elect those individuals, to decide whether the laws and those executing them continue to reflect their will,” Haines wrote.

Trump issued a proclamation in March claiming that Tren de Aragua was invading the U.S. He said he had special powers to deport immigrants, identified by his administration as gang members, without the usual court proceedings. After the proclamation, the administration began deporting people designated as Tren de Aragua members to a notorious prison in El Salvador.

The proclamation and deporations sparked a flurry of lawsuits in multiple states — including the one that led to Haines’ ruling Tuesday. That case was brought a Venezuelan national who says he fled to the U.S. with his wife and children in 2023 after facing extortion in his own country. He was arrested in February after a neighbor reported that he is a member of Tren de Aragua — a claim the man vehemently denies.

The man is identified only by his initials in the lawsuit. His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Haines initially approved the case as a class action, temporarily blocking the Trump administration from using the AEA to deport any migrants in her district. But she lifted that designation Tuesday, clearing the way for deportations to resume as long as the people being removed are given at least 21 days notice in English and Spanish as well as an “opportunity to be heard” on any objections they might have.