Three Judges Undercut Trump Administration ‘Gang’ Deportations

A pair of federal judges blasted the Trump administration’s effort to deport alleged gang members without due process on Tuesday, while another accused the government of stonewalling.

The cases illustrate how civil rights groups and immigration attorneys are using the courts to rein in some aspects of President Donald Trump’s unprecedented crackdown on illegal immigration, particularly those accused of crimes. Many of the accused migrants deny being gang members and say they’re being targeted because of their tattoos and clothing.

The harshest rebuke on Tuesday was delivered during an afternoon hearing when a New York judge told a government lawyer that the deportation fight isn’t playing out “in a secret court.”

“This is not the Inquisition or medieval times,” said US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein. “This is the United States of America.”

Two of the lower-court rulings on Tuesday stem from lawsuits over Trump’s use of a 227-year-old wartime law to unilaterally deport alleged members of a Venezuelan gang to a notorious prison in El Salvador. A third ruling comes from the case of a Maryland man fighting to return to the US after being deported to his native El Salvador by mistake.

The developments are the latest sign that Trump’s agenda is being challenged by court intervention that the administration has called unconstitutional. The fight appears likely to return to the US Supreme Court, which has already given some relief to potential deportees.

The Supreme Court, where Trump enjoys a 6-3 conservative majority, ruled in a related case earlier this month that accused gang members must be given a chance to dispute the claims against them before removal. On Saturday, in another case, the justices temporarily blocked deportations from Texas.

Notice, Hearing

On Tuesday, Judge Hellerstein extended an interim order against the deportations after telling the government that the Supreme Court’s findings on due process must be respected.

“These people who remain in the US are entitled to notice and a hearing,” said Hellerstein, appointed by President Bill Clinton. “These people are being thrown out of the country because of tattoos.”

The Trump administration has insisted that all of the Venezuelan men deported to the Terrorism Confinement Center, known as CECOT, in El Salvador are confirmed gang members and criminals who pose a threat to the United States.

Hours earlier, in Colorado, a judge issued an order temporarily halting further deportations from the state while disputing some elements of Trump’s March proclamation that laid the groundwork for the the removals without due process. She disagreed with Trump’s assertion that the Venezuelan gang’s activities in the US amounts to an “invasion” or “predatory incursion” under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.

‘Definitional Demands’

“These words, fundamentally, demand military and wartime action,” said US District Judge Charlotte Sweeney, who was appointed by President Joe Biden. “The proclamation makes no finding that satisfies these definitional demands.”

Her order requires the US give a 21-day notice to anyone in Colorado the government intends to remove under the Alien Enemies Act. The order is set to remain in effect until May 6, though the plaintiffs in the case are expected to seek a longer-lasting injunction. The Trump administration said it would appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court, if necessary.

The nation’s highest court “has already said that our Commander-in-Chief Donald J. Trump has the power to stop the invasion of our country by terrorists using war time powers,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. “One lone, unelected activist judge cannot stop the will of the American people for a safe and secure homeland.”

Later that night, in Maryland, the judge handling the case of the wrongfully deported man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, criticized the administration’s refusal to hand over court-ordered evidence about what exactly had happened, saying such conduct by the government “ends now.”

“For weeks, defendants have sought refuge behind vague and unsubstantiated assertions of privilege, using them as a shield to obstruct discovery and evade compliance with this court’s orders,” wrote US District Judge Paula Xinis, who was appointed by President Barack Obama.

Read More: Abrego Garcia Moved to El Salvador Jail With Bed, Furniture

The administration, which alleges that Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang, has been ordered by federal courts, including the Supreme Court, to facilitate his return. Trump and other administration officials have argued that they don’t have the power to free the man or return him to the US. Abrego Garcia, whose wife is a US citizen, denies being a gang member and has never been charged with a crime.

Last week, an appeals court denied an emergency motion by the administration to halt Xinis’ efforts to get Abrego Garcia returned to the US, saying the Justice Department’s conduct was shocking to Americans’ “sense of liberty.”

(Updates with comment from Department of Homeland Security.)

--With assistance from Alicia A. Caldwell and Malathi Nayak.

To contact the reporters on this story:
Erik Larson in New York at elarson4@bloomberg.net;
Bob Van Voris in federal court in Manhattan at rvanvoris@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou at megkolfopoul@bloomberg.net

Anthony Aarons, Peter Jeffrey

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