Judge refuses to lift block on Trump's Venezuelan deportation flights

WASHINGTON – A federal judge refused Monday to withdraw his block on President Donald Trump’s deportation flights of alleged members of Venezuela’s crime gang Tren de Araragua under the Alien Enemies Act.

Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruledthat any Venezuelans the Trump administration seeks to deport under the Alien Enemies Actshould get a chance to deny membership in the gang before being deported.

The Trump administration previously appealedBoasberg’s temporary block on the flights. A hearing is scheduled Monday afternoon at the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Boasberg’s decision is the latest salvo in a battle between Trump, lawyers fighting his policies and the judiciary sometimes temporarily blocking his orders. Trump called for the impeachment of Boasberg and other judges that have ruled against the administration. But the impeachment talk sparked a rare rebuke from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who said the recourse for adverse decisions is to appeal them.

The Justice Department contends Trump has the authority to wield the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, which was previously only invoked in times of declared war against other countries, to hasten the deportation of gang members he said invaded the U.S.

Trump and his aides have called the alleged gang members the “worst of the worst” based on criminal charges against some. Venezuela's Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said on Fridaythat none of the hundreds of Venezuelans deported by the U.S. to El Salvador's maximum-security Terrorism Confinement Center is a member of Venezuela's Tren de Aragua criminal gang.

Family members and advocates say immigration authorities are using tattoos of Spanish soccer teams, family members, crowns and the detainees' professions to inaccurately tie them to the gang. One deportee is a professional soccer player who fled Venezuela after being arrested for protesting its autocratic government.

Government lawyers argue that targeted Venezuelans can be deported without hearings.

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Two flights to El Salvador on March 15 carried 238 alleged members of Tren de Aragua and 23 alleged members of MS-13. El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele announced the figures on social media but they have not been confirmed by U.S. officials.

The Salvadoran prison is known for its harsh conditions. Visitation, recreation and education are not allowed at the mega-prison, according to Bukele, who has shared numerous videos of how roughly prisoners are treated.

Boasberg temporarily blocked the flights March 15 while the case is litigated. He verbally ordered the government to turn the planes around in flight but government lawyers contend he had no authority to do that. The dispute remains unresolved.

The five Venezuelans who filed the initial lawsuit, which Boasberg later expanded to anyone targeted under the Alien Enemies Act, denied being members of the gang. The five identified only by initials have not yet been deported.

“Because the named Plaintiffs dispute that they are members of Tren de Aragua, they may not be deported until a court has been able to decide the merits of their challenge,” Boasberg ruled. “Nor may any members of the provisionally certified class be removed until they have been given the opportunity to challenge their designations as well.”