Judges take steps to stop deportation of five Venezuelans held in Texas and New York
Source: AP
Updated 12:19 PM EDT, April 9, 2025
McALLEN, Texas (AP) -- Federal judges in New York and Texas on Wednesday took legal action to block the government from moving five Venezuelans out of the country until they can fight the government's attempt to remove them under a rarely-invoked law that gives the president the power to imprison and deport noncitizens in times of war.
The men were identified as belonging to the Tren de Aragua gang, a claim their lawyers dispute. Three men are being detained in a facility in Texas while two more are being held in an Orange County, New York, facility. One man in Texas is HIV positive and fears lacking access to medical care if deported.
Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. signed a temporary restraining order in Texas while Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein said at a New York hearing that he planned to sign a temporary restraining order as well to block removals while the court challenges proceed.
The actions came after civil liberties lawyers in Texas and New York sued in defense of the Venezuelans who are at risk of removal from the U.S. under a rarely-invoked law that gives the president the power to imprison and deport noncitizens in times of war.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/trump-deportations-alien-enemies-act-5eb0e061b4cc0d929f0050d7adb9b133
2 different judges have acted - one in TX and one in NY.
Changing source to include both.
Original article/source -
April 9, 2025, 11:59 AM
A federal judge in Manhattan on Wednesday temporarily blocked the deportation of any purported Venezuelan gang member detained in the Southern District of New York without them first receiving notice and an opportunity for a hearing.
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein suggested his decision was meant to define the parameters set by Monday's U.S. Supreme Court opinion that allowed the Trump administration to remove Tren de Aragua gang members under the Alien Enemies Act -- but not without due process. "Given the history, it seems to me people need to be protected," Hellerstein said.
The Trump administration last month invoked the Alien Enemies Act to deport more than 200 alleged migrant gang members to El Salvador by arguing that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is a "hybrid criminal state" that is invading the United States.
Judge Hellerstein's ruling came in the case of two plaintiffs identified by their initials, G.F.F. and J.G.O, who were pulled off planes to El Salvador and transferred back to New York from Texas, where they were initially detained on suspicion of alignment with Tren de Aragua.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/federal-judge-new-york-blocking-future-deportations-alien/story?id120634624
= new reply since forum marked as read
