An El Paso federal judge ruled President Donald Trump and his administration are “unlawfully” using the Alien Enemies Act to deport suspected Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang members with little to no due process.
U.S. Senior Judge David Briones, an El Pasoan and one of the most highly respected jurists in the U.S., stated in a Monday, June 9, ruling that neither Trump nor any president had the power to define or declare what a foreign invasion is, and Trump must follow all immigration laws.
Briones’ ruling prevents the Trump administration from using the Enemy Aliens Act to remove suspected Tren de Aragua gang members in the Western District of Texas until due process is served. It also prevents the government from moving migrants in similar cases from the Western District to another federal court district to bypass the ruling.
White House officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Alien Enemies Act is an 18th-century law that grants the president “sweeping power to detain and expel any noncitizen deemed ‘dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States,’” the ruling states. The act “is a wartime authority that grants the President of the United States specific powers with respect to the regulation, detention, and removal of alien enemies.”
“Under the AEA (Alien Enemies Act), a president cannot unilaterally define what constitutes an invasion, summarily declare that a foreign nation or government has threatened or perpetrated an invasion or predatory incursion of the United States, identify alien enemies subject to detention or removal, and summarily remove them,” Briones said in his ruling.
Trump has targeted Tren de Aragua, also known as TdA, and other Central American gangs, claiming a majority of migrants seeking asylum are members of notoriously violent gangs attempting to “invade” the U.S.
The president issued a proclamation March 15 designating Tren de Aragua as a “foreign terrorist organization with thousands of members, many of whom have unlawfully infiltrated the United States and are conducting irregular warfare and undertaking hostile actions against the United States.”
He claims in the proclamation that the Alien Enemies Act gives him the power to apprehend, detain and remove suspected Tren de Aragua gang members without due process.
Briones, one of the longest-serving federal judge in the Western District of Texas, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1994, issued a 56-page ruling stating that Trump’s administration had no power to invoke the Alien Enemies Act because it “required a militarized effort against, and militarized intrusion into, the territory of the United States with the specific purpose of conquering or obtaining control over territory.”
Trump’s allegations against Tren de Aragua are “clear they do not rise to the level of an ‘invasion’ or ‘predatory incursion’ as defined in the AEA (Alien Enemies Act),” the ruling states.
The ruling comes in a case where Trump was seeking to deport a 33-year-old Venezuelan woman, who is only identified as M.A.P.S. in court documents, over allegations she was a Tren de Aragua member.
American Civil Liberties Union attorneys filed the lawsuit on behalf of the woman in the Western District of Texas. The lawsuit sought for a federal judge to issue a permanent injunction, preventing the woman from being deported without due process.
American Civil Liberties Union officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Briones granted the permanent injunction. The woman will continue going through the immigration legal system as she seeks asylum.
Feds claim tattoo showed woman was TdA member
The woman was seeking asylum in the U.S. because she “fled Venezuela after repeated harassment, assault, and intimidation on the basis of political persecution,” federal court documents state.
She came to the U.S. using the CBP One appointment app in April 2023. She was granted temporary protected status and was living legally in the U.S.
ICE officers arrested the woman on April 9, 2025, in Ohio “despite her active TPS (temporary protected status) which shields her from detention,” the ruling states. The officers told the woman they believed she was a Tren de Aragua gang member because of her tattoos. She denied any affiliation or membership with the gang.
The woman refused to sign documents regarding the Alien Enemies Act and Tren de Aragua, the ruling states. She has been detained by immigration officers since.
‘No one is above the law’
The Alien Enemies Act has only been invoked by U.S. presidents three times, each in the context of an ongoing war, the ruling states. The three times were for the War of 1812, World War I and World War II.
Briones noted that the Trump administration’s use of the words “invasion” and “predatory incursion” in the proclamation does not make it so. The Trump administration failed to show that there is a “militarized effort against, and militarized intrusion into, the territory of the United States with the specific purpose of conquering or obtaining control over territory,” the ruling states.
Mass immigration or criminal activity does not meet the standards of the Alien Enemies Act. All noncitizens, per the U.S. Constitution, are entitled to due process, Briones ruled.
“It bears repeating that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land, and no law, whether promulgated by Congress or by Executive Order, may exceed constitutional bounds,” Briones wrote in his ruling. “Let there be no doubt — every person, on United States soil, regardless of their legal status, is entitled to due process of law under the Constitution in deportation proceedings.”
Immigration laws that have been in place for decades and upheld by numerous judges must be followed by government leaders, the ruling states.
“It is an established principle in our nation that no one is above the law,” Briones wrote. “Prominent rhetoric surrounding immigration calls for noncitizens to follow the law in their attempts to enter the United States. The same principle applies to our government. The government, too, must follow the law when effectuating removals from the United States.”
Aaron Martinez covers the criminal justice system for the El Paso Times. He may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com or on X/Twitter @AMartinezEPT.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: ‘No one is above the law’: El Paso federal judge blocks Trump’s use of Alien Enemies Act
Reporting by Aaron Martinez, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
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