(Adnkronos) – Federal Judge James Boasberg has upheld the order barring the Trump administration from using the Alien Enemies Act, the 18th-century war law invoked last week to deport hundreds of Venezuelan migrants to the controversial maximum-security prison in El Salvador. The judge, who had ordered the administration to stop the flights that were instead landed in El Salvador, spoke of “an unprecedented use of the law outside of a typical wartime context.”
And he said he believes the Venezuelans who have been designated “enemy aliens” as alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang, classified as a terrorist organization, “have the right to be heard by a judge to determine if the law of war applies to them.” The judge, who has been at the center of harsh attacks by Donald Trump, Elon Musk and the MAGA world who are calling for his impeachment, accusing him of wanting to usurp presidential power, recalls that the migrants who filed the appeal “deny being members of the gang” and therefore cannot be deported until a judge rules on the matter.
Boasberg concludes that in any case, the Trump administration is free to expel Venezuelans using normal procedures. In addition, the judge returns to the issue of the 260 Venezuelans transferred to the Salvadoran prison, which is at the center of accusations of torture and human rights violations. The judge disputes the fact that the migrants were not informed of the transfer and were not given the opportunity to challenge it on the basis of the torture allegations. In recent days, the American media have reported that many had signed voluntary repatriation orders, thinking that they would be sent back to Venezuela.
