President Donald Trump faces a new legal setback for his immigration crackdown. A federal appeals court in New Orleans ruled the administration wrongly invoked a 200-year-old law to deport Venezuelan migrants.
Trump has framed migration as an “invasion.” Last spring, he turned to the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to fast-track the removal of suspected members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang.
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However, the court ruled that the administration’s claims that the gang was part of a warlike invasion were false.
“Our analysis leads us to GRANT a preliminary injunction to prevent removal because we find no invasion or predatory incursion,” the panel’s majority wrote.
Trump administration’s previous efforts
The ruling comes months after the State Department designated Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization. In March, the White House said the gang was “conducting irregular warfare and undertaking hostile actions” against the U.S. that include “mass illegal migration.”
The latest ruling paves the way for a showdown at the U.S. Supreme Court over how far presidents can go in using emergency powers on immigration.
Trump scored a limited victory with the same court. It ruled that the administration’s seven-day notice of deportation did comply with a previous high court order.
The seven-day notice came after the Supreme Court halted the administration’s plans to deport alleged members of the gang with just 24 hours’ notice.
Tren de Aragua drug boat attack
On the same day as the ruling, Trump announced the U.S. conducted a military strike on board a drug boat connected to the Tren de Aragua gang.
Trump said the gang and the boat were operating under the control of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. He noted that 11 people were killed, but no Americans were injured in the operation.
