Overview

• Judge John Holcomb, a Trump appointee, granted a preliminary injunction blocking the deportation of Darwin Antonio Arevalo Millan under the Alien Enemies Act due to insufficient notice and lack of due process.
• The ruling held that the AEA grants the president nearly unlimited power to invoke the law but does not eliminate procedural protections for migrants.
• Arevalo Millan, detained at an ICE facility in California after reporting for a check-in, alleges he was targeted based on basketball-related tattoos linked to the tren de Aragua gang.
• The injunction bars all AEA removals in the district until the court defines the advance notice and procedural safeguards required before deportation.
• Separate lawsuits are ongoing against the administration’s broader effort to end Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans and other nationalities.