OAN Staff Blake Wolf
12:04 PM – Wednesday, September 3, 2025
A federal appeals court shockingly ruled against the Trump administration’s rapid deportation, via the usage of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, of illegal aliens who have been deemed Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang members.
The 2-1 Tuesday ruling by the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that President Donald Trump is “unable to legally fast-track” the deportation of suspected Venezuelan gang members through the Alien Enemies Act — which was utilized during the two World Wars and the War of 1812.
The panel’s majority issued a preliminary injunction “to prevent removal because we find no invasion or predatory incursion,” despite the Trump administration designating Tren de Aragua a foreign terrorist organization “conducting irregular warfare and undertaking hostile actions against the United States,” including the “mass illegal migration to the United States.”
Advertisement“A country encouraging its residents and citizens to enter this country illegally is not the modern-day equivalent of sending an armed, organized force to occupy, to disrupt, or to otherwise harm the United States,” wrote U.S. Circuit Judges Leslie Southwick and Irma Carrillo Ramirez.
Meanwhile, dissenting Judge Andrew S. Oldham slammed his colleagues for “second-guessing” the president’s decision, arguing that “the rules are different” for President Trump compared to past presidents who have been given much more authority to quickly deport illegals.
Oldham went on to argue that the ruling “is not only unprecedented – it is contrary to more than 200 years of legal precedent,” while characterizing his colleagues as “robed crusaders who get to playact as multitudinous Commanders in Chief.”
Meanwhile, Lee Gelernt, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney who argued on behalf of the Venezuelan criminal migrants, celebrated the victory while arguing that the fast-tracked deportations were “correctly shut down.”
“The Trump administration’s attempt to use a wartime statute during peacetime for immigration purposes was correctly shut down by the court.” Gelernt stated. “This ruling makes clear that the courts are there to keep the Executive branch within legal limits and that even the President cannot simply declare an emergency whenever it suits him.”
The ruling did, however, include that the administration’s procedure of providing removal notices seven days in advance satisfied the legal element required for due process, limiting the ruling to only halt deportations on the grounds of the Alien Enemies Act.
The case may proceed to the full Fifth Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court for further review.
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