Overview

• U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. ruled that the 1798 Alien Enemies Act cannot be used to deport Venezuelan nationals classified as gang members by the Trump administration.
• The decision marks the first permanent injunction against the administration's use of the 18th-century wartime law for immigration enforcement.
• The Trump administration had invoked the law in March 2025 to deport over 200 alleged members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang to a high-security prison in El Salvador.
• Judge Rodriguez determined that the executive branch's application of the Alien Enemies Act exceeded its intended scope and violated due process principles.
• The Alien Enemies Act, enacted during the Quasi-War, has been used only three times in U.S. history, most recently during World War II to intern Japanese Americans.