The federal government’s effort to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members has been temporarily halted by a federal judge in Colorado.
A federal judge in Colorado has temporarily blocked the deportation of two Venezuelan nationals accused of gang ties, issuing an emergency order to preserve the court’s jurisdiction while it considers claims raised by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) that the men are being denied due process.
The case, filed on April 12 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, challenges the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a rarely invoked wartime law that allows the president to detain or deport noncitizens deemed threats during times of war or invasion.
In response to the lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney issued a temporary restraining order on April 14 prohibiting federal immigration authorities from removing or transferring the two plaintiffs—identified only by their initials, D.B.U. and R.M.M.—until the court can more fully consider their claims.
“Defendants SHALL NOT REMOVE Petitioners from the District of Colorado or the United States unless or until this Court or the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit vacates this Order,” Sweeney wrote in her minute order.
The men, who entered the United States illegally and are currently held at the ICE detention facility in Aurora, Colorado, were flagged for removal under a March 15 proclamation issued by President Donald Trump. The order invokes the Alien Enemies Act to justify the swift removal of noncitizens associated with Tren de Aragua (TdA), a Venezuelan gang that the State Department recently designated a foreign terrorist organization.
Trump says that Tren de Aragua constitutes an invading force operating within U.S. communities and that its members must be deported quickly to protect Americans.
“TdA has engaged in and continues to engage in mass illegal migration to the United States to further its objectives of harming United States citizens, undermining public safety, and supporting the Maduro regime’s goal of destabilizing democratic nations in the Americas, including the United States,” the president said in his proclamation.
By Tom Ozimek
