In a motion filed on March 16, Bondi and her staff accused U.S. District Judge James Boasberg of implementing “an unprecedented, nationwide temporary restraining order” that halted deportations of illegal immigrants associated with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua under the 18th-century law. The motion argued that Boasberg initiated a “massive, unauthorized imposition” on the executive branch’s authority.
“This Court should halt this unprecedented intrusion upon the Executive’s authority to remove dangerous aliens who pose grave threats to the American people,” reads the emergency petition, which was submitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
On March 15, Boasberg said he needed to issue his order immediately because the government was already deporting illegal immigrants it considers deportable under Trump’s proclamation to El Salvador and Honduras to be incarcerated. El Salvador already agreed this week to take up to 300 illegal immigrants that the Trump administration has designated as gang members.
“A brief delay in their removal does not cause the government any harm,” he said, noting that the illegal immigrants remain in government custody.
He ordered that any planes in the air be turned around.
The ruling came hours after Trump issued an order saying that the Venezuelan gang, designated as a foreign terrorist organization several weeks ago, was invading the United States. Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a wartime authority that allows the president broader leeway on policy and executive action to speed up mass deportations.
The act has only been used three times before, all during wars. Its most recent application was during World War II, when it was used to incarcerate Germans and Italians and for the mass internment of Japanese American civilians.
“Over the years, Venezuelan national and local authorities have ceded ever-greater control over their territories to transnational criminal organizations, including TdA,” Trump’s statement reads, referring to Tren de Aragua. “The result is a hybrid criminal state that is perpetrating an invasion of and predatory incursion into the United States, and which poses a substantial danger to the United States.”
In the emergency petition against Boasberg’s order, the Department of Justice’s lawyers argued that the judge had not given the government “sufficient time” to respond to motions filed by the ACLU and other plaintiffs.
“Effective, efficient removal of enemy aliens linked to an FTO (foreign terrorist organization) when that opportunity is available is a key priority for the United States, and avoids exposing U.S. residents to severe harm,” they argued, in part.
Bondi released a separate statement on the night of March 15 that was critical of Boasberg’s decision, saying her office would work with the White House and other federal agencies to prevent Tren de Aragua from entering and operating within the United States.
Signed into law by second President John Adams in 1798, the Alien Enemies Act was a portion of the four-part Alien and Sedition Acts that restricted immigration and speech in the United States. The act provided the president with the capacity to detain noncitizens during times of war. Adams applied the law during an undeclared naval war with France between 1798 and 1800.
