2 Democrat Appointed Judges Extend Block on Trump’s Use of Alien Enemies Act to Deport Illegal Aliens

Two Democrat-appointed federal judges have extended temporary blocks on the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport criminal illegal aliens.  

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein has extended an April 9 order for another two weeks that bars the Trump administration from deporting illegal aliens being held in Southern District of New York without first providing them with an opportunity for a hearing.  

During a hearing Tuesday, Hellerstein, a President Bill Clinton appointee, criticized the Trump administration for its approach to deportations.  

“This is not the Inquisition, it’s not medieval times,” Hellerstein said. 

Until the New York court rules further, Hellerstein’s order prevents the deportation of about a dozen illegal aliens currently detained in the state.  

In Colorado, U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney, appointed by President Joe Biden, granted a request from the American Civil Liberties Union to temporarily bar the Trump administration from removing illegal aliens under the Alien Enemies Act.  

Sweeney’s order requires the Trump administration to give at least three weeks’ notice to illegal immigrants in Colorado of the government’s intended plan to remove them and requires that illegal aliens be informed of their right to due process.  

After designating the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, the White House announced in March that President Donald Trump would use the powers of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to remove members of the gang from America.  

On Saturday, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to pause the deportation of some Venezuelan illegal aliens using the act until the court can rule further.    

The High Court did not grant or deny the use of the Alien Enemies Act to remove the illegal aliens, who the Trump administration claims are Tren de Aragua gang members, but instead the justices simply hit pause on the matter.   

The flurry of court proceedings on the use of the Alien Enemies Act to remove illegal aliens started making headlines in March when Washington, D.C. based U.S. District Judge James Boasberg directed the Trump administration to stop the removal flights of illegal aliens to El Salvador.  

The Supreme Court in early April ruled to lift Boasberg’s temporary restraining order, determining that attorneys for the illegal alien should have filed their lawsuit against the deportations in Texas, where the specific group of illegal aliens in question were being held, instead of filing in Washington, D.C. 

Despite ongoing legal challenges to deportation efforts, the Trump administration has carried out more than 100,000 deportations since Jan. 20. 

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