A federal judge in West Texas aligned with other judicial bodies to temporarily halt the deportations of Venezuelan immigrants under the Alien Enemies Act, a statute from the 18th century used during wartime.
In El Paso, Texas, U.S. District Judge David Briones issued his ruling on Friday while also ordering the release of a couple accused of being members of a Venezuelan criminal organization.
Briones criticized government attorneys by stating that they “have not demonstrated they have any lawful basis” for continuing to detain the couple under suspicions related to the alien enemy law.
Attempts to reach the couple’s legal representative were unsuccessful on Saturday.
The pair is alleged to be members of Tren de Aragua, identified by the Trump administration as a foreign terrorist group.
The former president invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows the deportation of noncitizens aged 14 or older from countries the U.S. is at war with.
In prior weeks, the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily blocked the deportations of Venezuelans detained in northern Texas under this legislation.
The Supreme Court also decreed that individuals facing deportation as per Trump’s directive are entitled to a hearing in federal court before expulsion, providing them with “a reasonable time” to challenge their pending deportations.
Briones’ directive specifically impacts Venezuelan immigrants in federal custody within his jurisdiction only.
Similar rulings have been made by federal judges in Colorado, South Texas, and New York.
Briones mandated a 21-day notice from the government before any deportation attempts in Western Texas, contrasting the 12-hour window previously considered adequate by the authorities.
This case surfaces amid ongoing conflicts between the Trump administration and local officials regarding the president’s extensive immigration policies.
The same day Briones issued his ruling, the FBI arrested a Milwaukee judge for allegedly assisting an individual in avoiding immigration enforcement.
Judge Briones, appointed to the bench in 1994 by then-President Bill Clinton, emphasized that “due process requirements for the removal of noncitizens are long established” as outlined by the Immigration and Nationality Act alongside previous decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Judge Briones further elaborated, stating, “There is no doubt the Executive Branch’s unprecedented peacetime use of wartime power has caused chaos and uncertainty for individual petitions as well as the judicial branch in how to manage and evaluate the Executive’s claims of Tren de Aragua membership, and the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act as a whole.”
The couple in question, Julio Cesar Sanchez Puentes and Luddis Norelia Sanchez Garcia, had entered the United States from Mexico in October 2022 and were granted temporary protected status, which was subsequently revoked on April 1.
They were taken into custody on April 16 at the El Paso airport as they were preparing to return to their Washington, D.C. home, where they reside with their three children.
Their visit to Texas had been for an April 14 pretrial hearing concerning removal proceedings, which were adjourned to June 23.
During this time, they were permitted to remain out on bail, according to court documentation.