A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked a lower court order that allowed Venezuelan illegal immigrants deported to El Salvador in March to challenge their detention.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued an administrative stay on June 10, putting the June 4 order of District Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on hold while it reviews the government’s appeal.
This comes after the Trump administration filed an emergency motion asking the appeals court to block Boasberg’s ruling, which required the government to provide Venezuelan illegal immigrants deported to El Salvador a chance to contest their deportation.
More than 100 Venezuelan nationals were deported to El Salvador in March after President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on March 15 invoking the Alien Enemies Act, which allows the removal of noncitizens without legal process during wartime or invasion.
The deportation efforts targeted illegal immigrants suspected of being members of the Tren de Aragua criminal gang, a terrorist organization that Trump said was “conducting irregular warfare and undertaking hostile actions against the United States” by engaging in illegal immigration and committing “brutal crimes.”
In a June 4 ruling, Boasberg stated that the administration had “plainly deprived” the illegal immigrants of their right to seek habeas relief—or an opportunity to challenge their detention—before being deported from the United States.
“That process—which was improperly withheld—must now be afforded to them,” the judge stated. “The court determines that such a remedy balances defendants’ distinct role in conducting foreign affairs with the grave need to right their legal wrongs; absent this relief, the government could snatch anyone off the street, turn him over to a foreign country, and then effectively foreclose any corrective course of action.”
The Trump administration has argued that the district court lacks jurisdiction over the habeas claims, as the United States does not have “constructive custody” over the illegal immigrants currently held at El Salvador’s mega prison, known as CECOT, according to its June 10 emergency motion.
“This court agreed that the United States does not have actual or constructive custody over plaintiffs, and therefore that there is no jurisdiction for their claims in habeas,” the administration stated.
“Further the lack of custody means the government cannot ‘facilitate’ habeas review—at least not without engaging in military or diplomatic efforts that courts lack authority to order. Plaintiffs thus cannot seek equitable relief for past due-process violations.”
The Epoch Times sought comment from the White House and from the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the Venezuelan nationals in the lawsuit, regarding the appeals court’s order, but did not receive any responses by publication time.
