Administration asks Supreme Court to lift judge's block on deportations under Alien Enemies Act
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg on Friday extended his temporary restraining order blocking deportations under the Alien Enemies Act for another two weeks.
The order came hours after the Trump administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court to urgently lift Boasberg's block on the use of the AEA to deport alleged Tren de Aragua gang members.
Judge Boasberg's temporary restraining order blocking the deportations -- issued on March 15 -- was set to expire on Saturday, and his new order extends the order until at least April 12. He also set an April 8 hearing to consider a longer-lasting preliminary injunction.
"As this Court recently explained, Plaintiffs are entitled to a TRO enjoining their removal at least until they have had a chance to challenge that they are covered by the Proclamation," Judge Boasberg wrote regarding the temporary restraining order.
In its emergency application to the Supreme Court earlier Friday, Trump administration attorneys wrote that "Only this Court can stop rule-by-TRO from further upending the separation of powers -- the sooner, the better."
"Here, the district court's orders have rebuffed the President's judgments as to how to protect the Nation against foreign terrorist organizations and risk debilitating effects for delicate foreign negotiations," Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris wrote.
"More broadly, rule-by-TRO has become so commonplace among district courts that the Executive Branch's basic functions are in peril. In the two months since Inauguration Day, district courts have issued more than 40 injunctions or TROs against the Executive Branch," Harris wrote.
The appeal followed Wednesday's 2-1 ruling by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upholding Boasberg's order and defending his jurisdiction in the matter.
The appeals court heard arguments Monday over the Trump administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act earlier this month to deport more than 200 alleged migrant gang members to El Salvador without due process.
Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act -- a wartime authority used to deport noncitizens with little-to-no due process -- by arguing that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is a "hybrid criminal state" that is invading the United States.
Judge Boasberg temporarily blocked the president's use of the law to deport the alleged gang members, calling the removals "awfully frightening" and "incredibly troublesome," and ordered that the government turn around two flights carrying more than 200 alleged Tren de Aragua members to El Salvador. Authorities failed to turn the flights around, saying they were already in international waters.
An official with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement subsequently acknowledged in a sworn declaration that "many" of the alleged gang members did not have criminal records in the United States -- but said that "the lack of specific information about each individual actually highlights the risk they pose" and "demonstrates that they are terrorists with regard to whom we lack a complete profile."
