The judicial body, based in New Orleans, has blocked the application of the statute to expedite the removal of migrants in the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. Photograph: Billy Metcalf Photography
Guacamaya, September 3, 2025. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has barred Donald Trump’s administration from using the Alien Enemies Act to accelerate the deportation of Venezuelan migrants. The statute, enacted in 1798 during wartime, had been invoked to justify the immediate expulsion of migrants accused of belonging to the Venezuelan gang “Tren de Aragua.”
The federal court, which has jurisdiction over appeals from district courts in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, ruled by a 2–1 majority that there is no legal basis for applying this historic law. Judge Leslie Southwick, joined by Judge Irma Carrillo Ramírez, argued that the executive action violated the due process that must be guaranteed before any deportation.
“We conclude that there is no evidence to support that an invasion or predatory incursion has occurred. Therefore, we find that the petitioners are likely to show that the Alien Enemies Act was improperly invoked,” Southwick wrote in the ruling. As a result, the invocation of the statute is now barred in the states under the court’s jurisdiction.
In March 2025, Trump resorted to this obscure legal instrument to deport over 200 Venezuelan migrants to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador. Despite many of them having no criminal record, they were accused without evidence of being part of the criminal group Tren de Aragua—sparking debate over the legality and proportionality of the decision.
Attorney Lee Gelernt, representing the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), welcomed the court’s decision, stating that Trump’s measure “was improper because it violates Congress’s intent in passing the law.” He added, “This is a crucial ruling that upholds the rule of law and limits the government’s attempt to militarize immigration.”
The case is likely to proceed to higher courts, either through an en banc appeal in the Fifth Circuit or directly to the Supreme Court, which may ultimately decide the matter. While the ruling blocks the use of the Alien Enemies Act in deportation cases involving Venezuelans, it does not prevent the government from pursuing other legal avenues against them.
