Federal judge rules Trump cannot use Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members

​​​​​​​By Darren Lyn

HOUSTON, United States (AA) - A federal judge in Texas ruled Thursday that President Donald Trump cannot use the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) to detain and deport alleged Venezuelan gang members.

Trump invoked the AEA in March to speed up deportations of Tren de Aragua gang members as part of his initiative to crack down on illegal immigration.

During a Justice Department (DOJ) raid March 15, at least 137 Venezuelans were arrested and deported to an El Salvador mega prison without the due process of retaining lawyers and court hearings, according to news outlets.

The president deemed that using the AEA was necessary because the gang's presence in the US was an "invasion" and a "predatory incursion."

The judge disagreed and ruled that the little-used 18th-century wartime law could not be used to detain and deport migrants.

"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," wrote US District Judge Fernando Rodriguez, who was appointed by Trump during his first term.

The AEA was last implemented during World War II and is best known for being used to intern and deport people of Japanese, German and Italian descent.

Thursday's ruling is in line with the US Supreme Court's decision on April 7 which ruled that the Trump administration must give migrants the chance to contest any future AEA deportations in court.

Since the nation's highest court announced that ruling, judges across the country have issued temporary restraining orders to block deportations under the AEA.

The preliminary injunction issued by Rodriguez is longer-lasting than the two-week temporary restraining orders that he and other judges in the states of Colorado, New York and Pennsylvania previously imposed, according to reports.