A federal appeals court blocked President Donald Trump late Tuesday from using the war-related Alien Enemies Act to quickly remove migrants from the country.
In a 2-1 decision , a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit said it did not find an “invasion or predatory incursion” to justify Trump’s invoking the centuries-old national security law to target purported members of the international gang Tren de Aragua.
The court issued an injunction that prevents Trump from using the law to deporting migrants who filed the case and others who are in the same situation, but it pointed out that the administration could use “any other statutory authority for removing foreign terrorists.”
The 1798 law states that noncitizens age 14 and up can be removed as “alien enemies” whenever