By a 2-1 vote, a three-judge panel from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that President Donald Trump cannot use the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport dangerous Venezuelan gang members back to their homeland, reports the AP.
The Alien Enemy Act of 1798 gives the president of the U.S. the power restrain and deport citizens of a threating foreign nation during war or event of invasion.
The appeals panel upheld a ruling from a lower court judge that that statute was not intended to be used against gangs like Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan group Trump targeted in his March invocation. The decision also bars deportations from Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
Art Arthur is a resident fellow in law and policy at the Center for Immigration Studies.
"I think that this is one of those cases that the U.S. government is going to either seek the Supreme Court review on or ask the full Fifth Circuit to weigh in on this,” states Arthur.
He believes that, one way or another, this case will end up before the Supreme Court.
“It was always going to end up at the Supreme Court because no lower court decision was really going to resolve the Trump administration's novel use of the Alien Enemies Act to remove gang members from the United States," explains Arthur.
But Arthur thinks that it’s going to be a tight case at the Supreme Court.
"I think the Supreme Court is probably going to be a little nervous about expanding an act that dates to the 18th century to cover these people. But I think that the Trump administration will have a better part of that argument and that these removals will stand," concludes Arthur.
