Republican President invoked in March the 1798 Foreign Enemies Law to accelerate the expulsion of alleged gang members
(Folhapress) -The court prohibited on Thursday (1) that the US government will use a 18th century war law to stop and deport Venezuelan immigrants.
The decision taken by federal judge Fernando Rodriguez, who was appointed by Donald Trump during his first term (2017-2021), reinforces the position of the Supreme Court, which blocked the expulsions on April 19.
The Republican President invoked in March the 1798 Foreign Enemies Act to accelerate the expulsion of alleged members of the Aragua’s Tren Gang, one of Venezuela’s main criminal factions, and deports them to El Salvador’s maximum security prison.
In the decision, however, Rodriguez states that the presence of the gang in the US cannot be considered as an invasion or “predatory foray”, cases that would be contemplated by the law.
“The historical record makes it clear that the invocation of the EEA [sigla de Alien Enemies Act, nome da lei em inglês] by the President exceeds the scope of the Statute and is contrary to the simple and common meaning of the terms of the legislation. ”
Neither the Justice Department nor the White House responded to requests for commentary made by the Reuters agency.
Until then, the 1798 law had only been used during the 1812 war against the British Empire and its colonies in Canada, and in the two world conflicts -in the second World War II, it was applied to the hospitalization and deportation of people of Japanese, German and Italian descent.
At least 137 Venezuelans were deported from the detention center El Valle in Raymondville, Texas, under this law on March 15.
Family members and lawyers of most of these men deny their involvement with the gang Tren de Aragua, and they say the deported ones had no chance of contesting the government’s accusations against them.
On Monday (28), a Reuters drone followed the moment when 31 men gathered in the courtyard of the Bluebonnet Immigrant Detention Center in Anson, Texas, and formed the SOS letters to protest against the deportations that the US government tries to perform.
Ten days earlier, dozens of Venezuelan detainees in Bluebonnet had received notifications that accused them of joining the Aragua Tren and reported that they would be subject to deportation under the law of foreign enemies.
