Appeals court dismisses case challenging Alien Enemies Act, does not address question of Trump's use of the wartime law
A U.S. appeals court has dismissed a case challenging the Trump administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit dismissed the case on Thursday because the three plaintiffs challenging the invocation of the obscure law were deported through other means.
"The Supreme Court remanded this case to us when the three named petitioners were still in the country. But we have since learned that the government has removed them. Given this change, we conclude that the appeal is moot," Chief Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod wrote for the court.
The dispute stems from the March 2025 effort by the administration to deport more than 100 Venezuelans with no due process.
Writing for the en banc court, Elrod said the administration removed all three named petitioners under the Immigration and Nationality Act rather and not the AEA, an 18th century wartime authority last used during World War II.
Because the plaintiffs are no longer in the country, the 5th Circuit ruled that it lacked jurisdiction to provide any relief.
"Given the lack of any named petitioners to whom we could grant relief in this appeal, and given that this case has never and does not now feature any class, we conclude that the appeal is moot," Elrod.
In May 2025, the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration did not provide Venezuelan migrants targeted under the wartime authority with enough time or information to contest their cases and extended its injunction temporarily barring the administration from removing them under that law. The high court remanded the case to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to resolve the question of how much time should be afforded for detainees to contest their removals.
In September 2025, a three-judge panel of the appeals court agreed with immigrant rights lawyers and lower court judges who argued the AEA was not intended to be used against gangs such as Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan gang targeted by the Trump administration.
The panel decision was later vacated when the full court voted to grant an en banc rehearing.
"The Supreme Court's injunction barring the further use of the Alien Enemies Act remains in place, which is essential because there are still people at risk of being wrongly removed under the act without due process," said Lee Gelernt, the ACLU lawyer who argued the case. "The Fifth Circuit decision also doesn't alter the fact that courts have soundly rejected the use of this wartime authority during peacetime, including a panel of the Fifth Circuit."
