Federal Court Temporarily Blocks Trump from Removing Some Immigrants in U.S. Using Alien Enemies Act 

Ruling Stems from Lawsuit Filed this Morning by ACLU and Democracy Forward WASHINGTON — A federal judge tonight broadened the scope of a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking the Trump administration from removing immigrants from the United States using the Alien Enemies Act. The ruling extended the order to everyone in danger of removal under the act and granted class certification. The ruling stems from a lawsuit, J.G.G. v. Trump, filed this morning by the American Civil Liberties Union, Democracy Forward, and the ACLU of the District of Columbia challenging the president’s then-expected unlawful and unprecedented invocation of the act. The Trump administration ultimately published the president’s invocation of the act today, although it was actually signed yesterday. Earlier today, the court ordered the individual plaintiffs in this lawsuit not be removed from the United States for 14 days. A remote hearing was then held early this evening before Chief Judge James E. Boasberg, where the ACLU and Democracy Forward successfully requested preliminary certification of a class action and the expansion of the TRO to everyone detained and in danger of removal under the act. The TRO motion this evening was argued by Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project and lead counsel in this case. In addition, a hearing on the lawsuit’s merits is scheduled for March 21 in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. More information to follow. More information about the lawsuit filed today is here.

WASHINGTON — The American Civil Liberties Union, Democracy Forward, and the ACLU of the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration today over the president’s expected unlawful and unprecedented invocation of the Alien Enemies Act. The Alien Enemies Act, passed in 1798, is a wartime authority providing that the president may — after a public proclamation — apprehend, restrain, and remove citizens of a foreign country that is engaged in a “declared war” or “invasion or predatory incursion” against the United States. The lawsuit charges that President Trump intends to invoke the centuries-old wartime act unlawfully during peacetime to accelerate mass deportations, sidestepping the limits of this wartime authority and the procedures and protections in immigration law. The Alien Enemies Act’s previous use during wartime — for example, its invocation during World War II to justify the internment of people of Japanese ancestry — has correctly drawn sustained criticism. Employing it as a way to evade domestic laws in peacetime is fundamentally wrong. “The Trump administration’s intent to use a wartime authority for immigration enforcement is as unprecedented as it is lawless. It may be the administration's most extreme measure yet, and that is saying a lot,” said Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project and lead counsel. “The United States is not at war, nor has it been invaded. The president’s anticipated invocation of wartime authority — which is not needed to conduct lawful immigration enforcement operations — is the latest step in an accelerating authoritarian playbook,” said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward. “From improperly apprehending American citizens, to violating the ability of communities to peacefully worship, to now improperly trying to invoke a law that is responsible for some of our nation’s most shameful actions, this administration’s immigration agenda is as lawless as it is harmful.” “There is no foreign military action to justify President Trump’s intended invocation of this act, making his actions not only unlawful but an outright assault on fundamental rights. This is yet another dangerous overreach by the administration, designed to support an unchecked mass deportation program, all while bypassing the necessary judicial review,” said Arthur Spitzer, senior counsel at the ACLU of the District of Columbia. The complaint is here. The TRO memo is here.

The American Civil Liberties Union, Democracy Forward, and the ACLU of the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration over the president’s unlawful and unprecedented invocation of the Alien Enemies Act. The Alien Enemies Act, passed in 1798, is a wartime authority providing that the president may — after a public proclamation — apprehend, restrain, and remove citizens of a foreign country that is engaged in a “declared war” or “invasion or predatory incursion” against the United States. The lawsuit charges that President Trump's invocation of a centuries-old wartime act unlawfully during peacetime to accelerate mass deportations, sidestepping the limits of this wartime authority and the procedures and protections in immigration law. The Alien Enemies Act’s previous use during wartime — for example, its invocation during World War II to justify the internment of people of Japanese ancestry — has correctly drawn sustained criticism. Employing it as a way to evade domestic laws in peacetime is fundamentally wrong.

NEW YORK — In a fight to get recent Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil back to his family, his legal team filed an amended habeas petition and complaint with the federal court in the Southern District of New York, challenging his detention by ICE. Last Saturday, the Trump administration illegally arrested and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a lawful permanent resident, in direct retaliation for his advocacy in support of Palestinian rights. Secretary of State Marco Rubio invoked a vague and rarely-used provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act that says the government may deport people if there are “reasonable grounds” to believe their presence in the country “would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.” The White House has stated that it seeks to revoke Mr. Khalil’s green card because he organized group protests and served as the lead negotiator of the Gaza solidarity encampments at Columbia. He has not been charged with or accused of any crime, as the Trump administration has freely admitted. A team of lawyers, including Amy Greer from Dratel & Lewis, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and CLEAR represented him in emergency filings over the weekend, resulting in a court order to ensure Mr. Khalil would not be deported as his case proceeded. Shortly after, the American Civil Liberties Union and New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) joined his legal team. The amended petition argues that his detention violates his constitutional rights, including free speech and due process, and goes beyond the government’s legal authority. The following are quotes from Mr. Khalil’s legal team: Amy Greer, associate attorney with Dratel & Lewis: “Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest and detention is an escalation of the U.S. Government’s continual efforts to suppress the speech and association rights of student organizers seeking to hold the U.S. accountable for its facilitation of the genocide being exacted upon the people of Gaza and the Occupied West Bank. We the People should stand up against these repressive efforts and protect those rights so critical to the fabric of our nation that they were included in the First Amendment of our nation’s Constitution.” Ramzi Kassem, founding director of CLEAR: “What happened to Mahmoud is nothing short of extraordinary, shocking, and outrageous. It should outrage anyone who believes that speech should be free in the United States of America. It simply cannot be the case that government agents can disappear Mahmoud or anyone else, at night, on the streets of New York City because the current U.S. government, the current administration dislikes what you have to say. We think it won’t fly in the federal court, it won’t fly in an immigration court, and it certainly won’t fly in the court of public opinion.” Brett Max Kaufman, senior staff attorney with ACLU’s Center for Democracy: “This is a clear attempt by President Trump to make an example out of Mr. Khalil and silence dissent across the country. No matter what your views are on Israel & Palestine, we should all be terrified of a government incarcerating its residents for their political opinions.” Baher Azmy, legal director for the Center for Constitutional Rights: “The Trump administration has been targeting Palestinian human rights activists from day one, smearing them with every tired and empty trope. Rather than engage with its own role in the genocide and suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, the administration is using the the government's full power to make an example of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian student leader beloved in his campus community and known for his integrity. His arrest and attempted deportation for what is constitutionally protected speech is a replay of McCarthyist repression that is intolerable to a democracy.” Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union: “With today’s filing, we are making it crystal clear that no president can arrest, detain, or deport anyone for disagreeing with the government. The Trump administration has selectively targeted Mr. Khalil, a student, husband, and father-to-be who has not been accused of a single crime, to send a message of just how far they will go to crack down on dissent. But we at the NYCLU and ACLU won’t stand for it — under the Constitution, the Trump administration has no basis to continue this cruel weaponization of Mr. Khalil’s life. The Court must release Mr. Khalil immediately and let him go home to his family in New York, where he belongs. Ideas are not illegal, and dissent is not grounds for deportation.” The amended complaint can be found here: https://www.aclu.org/cases/khalil-v-trump?document=Amended-Petition-for-Writ-of-Habeas-Corpus-and-Complaint