U.S. District Court Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. is the first judge to rule that the Alien Enemies Act cannot be used against people who, the

The Trump administration was using an 18th century wartime law to legally justify the deportations of hundreds of Venezuelans to El Salvador.

A federal judge permanently blocked the Trump administration on Thursday from using the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) to deport foreign gang members. Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr., a Trump appointee, held the president’s March 15 proclamation invoking the AEA to target members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang is “unlawful” because the statute has