Federal Appeals Court Keeps Block on Trump Use of Alien Enemies Act to Deport Immigrants

WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court has denied the Trump administration’s request to lift a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking the Trump administration from deporting immigrants using the Alien Enemies Act.

The 2-1 ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Democracy Forward, and the ACLU of the District of Columbia.

The parties were in court on Monday arguing President Trump illegally invoked the 1798 act for immigration enforcement, violating the limits in the Alien Enemies Act, and improperly attempting to bypass the procedures and protections in immigration law.

The Alien Enemies Act is a centuries-old wartime authority providing that the president may — after a public proclamation — apprehend, restrain, and remove citizens of a foreign country that is engaged in a “declared war” or “invasion or predatory incursion” against the United States.

The president’s use of this wartime authority for immigration enforcement is as unprecedented as it is lawless, with the Trump administration trying to deport people to overseas prisons without any judicial review or due process.

The federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., today denied the administration’s request to lift the temporary restraining order against it.

“The decision means that hundreds of individuals remain protected from being sent to a notorious black-hole prison in a foreign country, without any due process whatsoever — perhaps for the rest of their lives,” said Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, who argued the case.

“Today's decision by the D.C. Circuit denying the Trump administration's attempt to stay the temporary restraining order issued by Judge Boasberg is an important step for due process and the protection of the American people. President Trump is bound by the laws of this nation, and those laws do not permit him to use wartime powers when the United States is not at war and has not been invaded to remove individuals from the country with no process at all,” said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward. “Despite the president and administration's continued attacks on the rule of law, and the judges and lawyers sworn to protect it, and their careless disregard for court orders, it is undeniable that the legal system in this country is doing its job to protect people’s rights.”

“The court’s decision is a critical reminder that no president is above the law. Misusing a centuries-old wartime statute to bypass immigration protections was not just unlawful — it was a threat to core civil liberties. This outcome is a win for fairness and the rule of law,” said Scott Michelman, legal director at the ACLU-D.C.

The ruling is here.
This statement is here.
The case background is here.