A federal judge in Texas on Thursday (May 1, 2025) barred the Trump administration from using the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act to expel a group of Venezuelans detained at an immigration center in the southern state from the United States .
Judge Fernando Rodríguez, appointed by Trump during his first term, issued the ruling in response to a class-action lawsuit by several of those affected and after the Supreme Court blocked the same expulsions on April 19 under the specific 1798 law.
In his ruling, the judge permanently bars the government from using this law, previously used only in times of war, which Trump invoked to expel hundreds of Venezuelans he accuses of belonging to the Tren de Aragua criminal organisation.
In the opinion supporting the ruling, Rodriguez explains that “the historical record makes clear that the president’s invocation of the (Alien Enemies Act) through a proclamation exceeds the scope of the statute and is contrary to the plain and ordinary meaning of the statute’s terms.”
However, he clarifies that the Trump administration can proceed with the expulsion of the group of Venezuelans under a different law — the Immigration and Nationality Act.
The Supreme Court and several district courts have temporarily halted expulsions under this law, citing a lack of due process, but Rodríguez is the first federal judge to find its use “illegal.”
There are Venezuelans detained in Texas
Three of the plaintiffs are Venezuelans detained at the El Valle detention center in Raymondville, Texas. They deny belonging to the Tren de Aragua and argue that the use of the century-old law is depriving them of due process rights under the U.S. Constitution.
On April 19, the Supreme Court blocked the expulsion of Venezuelans detained at the center under the centuries-old law, following emergency appeals filed by an organisation alleging that the Trump administration was trying to expel more immigrants to El Salvador.
The Supreme Court and several district courts have temporarily halted migrant expulsions, citing a lack of due process, but Rodríguez is the first federal judge to rule that their use is “illegal.”
Trump had invoked this law on March 15 to send suspected Venezuelan gang members to a mega-prison in El Salvador, which agreed to hold them in exchange for six million dollars, according to the White House.
Until that day, the 1798 law had only been used to confine American citizens of Japanese origin during World War II.