Former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy warned Republicans in Congress Monday that they needed to back up President Donald Trump’s efforts to deport members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA).
After Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to speed up the deportation of TdA gang members on March 15, United States District Judge James Boasberg of the District of Columbia issued an injunction ordering the Trump administration to turn around two planes carrying members of the gang to El Salvador. McCarthy told “Faulkner Focus” guest host Julie Banderas that post-9/11 court rulings could complicate efforts to deport TdA members.
“I think the problem, Julie, is the lower courts are stuck with the jurisprudence that the Supreme Court developed after the 9/11 attacks, which gave even alien enemy combatants who were held overseas and who were captured overseas rights of access to the U.S. courts,” McCarthy said. “So, I think if Trump is going to win on this Alien Enemy Act initiative that they’ve tried, he’s gonna have to win that at the Supreme Court. The lower courts will be stuck regardless with the jurisprudence they already have.”
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“But listening to your reports and especially the comments from the House Speaker and also from Sen. Schumer, it seems to me like they got their eye on the wrong ball. The issue shouldn’t be the judges,” McCarthy continued. “How about Congress help the president with Tren de Aragua? You know, we are talking about the courts and talking about the president. It’s the Congress that has the authority to declare war and to do things sort of under the rubric of declaring war. They could designate and make findings about Tren de Aragua, give the president the authority he needs to do summary deportations. That’s what they ought to be focused on.”
The Alien Enemies Act of 1798, typically only invoked during times of war, authorizes the president to bypass standard procedures to deport a non-citizen “alien” of the U.S.
Trump issued several executive orders to address illegal immigration and border security, including designating Mexican drug cartels, including TdA and MS-13, as foreign terrorist organizations upon taking office Jan. 20. TdA members have allegedly been involved in the takeover of an Aurora, Colorado apartment complex, as well as kidnapping and murder.
McCarthy said that Republicans should relish the opportunity to put congressional Democrats on the spot.
“Why not take some action on Capitol Hill against Tren de Aragua? If the Democrats want to defend them, I think the Republicans in Congress should put them in that position,” McCarthy said.
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