Federal Judge Says Trump Misapplied Wartime Law for Venezuelan Deportations

A federal judge in New York has blocked the government from deporting suspected Venezuelan gang members, holding that the Trump administration improperly invoked an 18th-century law and failed to provide due process for deportees. Issued on May 6, the order is the second preliminary injunction issued by a federal judge in less than a week. Challenges to the deportations have been ongoing, with several more temporary orders, including from the Supreme Court, blocking a proclamation President Donald Trump signed in March. Both U.S. District Judges Alvin Hellerstein, who issued the May 6 opinion, and Fernando Rodriguez Jr., who issued his order on May 1, said in their orders that Trump was wrong to claim that the Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang was engaging in an “invasion” as outlined by the Alien Enemies Act of 1798....