A federal appeals court judge appointed by President Barack Obama told a Justice Department attorney during a Monday argument that the United States gave “better treatment” to Nazis during World War II than the Trump administration gave members of Tren de Aragua (TdA).
After President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to speed up the deportation of TdA gang members March 15, United States District Judge James Boasberg of the District of Columbia issued an injunction, ordering the Trump administration to turn two planes carrying members of the gang to El Salvador around. Circuit Judge Patricia Millett of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, while hearing oral arguments in defense of the president’s actions, asserted that Nazis were given a greater opportunity to dispute their removal from the U.S. than the supposed gang members.
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“There were planeloads of people. There were no procedures in place to notify people. Nazis got better treatment under the Alien Enemy Act than has happened here, where the proclamation required the promulgation of regulations,” Millett told a DOJ attorney. “And they had hearing boards before people were removed. And yet here there’s no there’s nothing in there about hearing boards. There’s no regulations. And nothing was adopted by the agency officials that were administering this.”
“The people weren’t given notice,” Millett continued. “They weren’t told where they were going. They were given, those people on those planes on that Saturday had no opportunity to file a habeas or any type of action to challenge the removal under the AEA, and yet, you’ve agreed that two of those airplanes, people were removed under the AEA. Is that — what’s factually wrong about what I said?”
Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign told Millett that individuals slated for deportation did have a chance to contest their removal.
“The fact is that individual plaintiffs were able to file habeas in time in order to secure relief,” Ensign said.
The Alien Enemies Act of 1798, typically only invoked during times of war, authorizes the president to bypass standard procedures to deport non-citizen “aliens” from the U.S.
Trump issued several executive orders to address illegal immigration, including one that designated Mexican drug cartels, TdA and MS-13 as foreign terrorist organizations upon taking office Jan. 20. TdA members have allegedly been involved in the takeover of apartment complexes in Aurora, Colorado, as well as kidnapping and murder.
The Border Patrol encountered millions of illegal immigrants during the Biden administration, according to figures released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced Feb. 25 that only 200 illegal immigrants were apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border, the lowest single-day total in 15 years, which has been largely attributed to Trump’s firm stance on border security.
Democratic states and unions have repeatedly sued to block the Trump administration’s agenda, prompting several judges to issue nationwide injunctions against the administration. Republicans in Congress are have weighing legislation that would bar district judges from blocking certain executive actions nationwide in response.
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