A federal appeals court panel ruled against the Trump administration, declining to block a trial judge’s decision that temporarily halted certain deportations under an 18th century wartime law.
Federal officials filed an emergency appellate motion after U.S. District Judge James Boasberg issued temporary restraining orders on March 15. President Donald Trump had invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to summarily remove alleged Venezuelan gang members and fly them to El Salvador.
“This Court should halt this unprecedented intrusion upon the Executive’s authority to remove dangerous aliens who pose grave threats to the American people,” the Justice Department wrote to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ahead of a hearing Monday.
Boasberg didn’t order deportations halted across the board; rather, he temporarily constrained Trump’s authority to summarily deport people under the rarely used act. It was invoked three times before in U.S. history, all during declared wars. The government can still deport people under other legal authorities.
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