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President Donald Trump at a press conference at the White House in Washington on February 27, 2025 (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Sipa USA; via AP Images)
A federal judge in Colorado this week appeared skeptical of allowing the Trump administration to resume using an 18th-century wartime authority to fast-track the removal of Venezuelan migrants with limited notice and minimal, if any, due process.
U.S. District Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney on Monday heard arguments from attorneys representing the Justice Department and immigration rights groups regarding whether she should renew a temporary restraining order (TRO) preventing the government from invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 (AEA) to deport migrants to a notorious work camp in El Salvador.
The hearing came after the U.S. Supreme Court in the early morning hours of Saturday issued an order — the first and only Saturday order issued this term — directing the government “not to remove” any immigrant detainees subject to President Donald Trump’s proclamation invoking the AEA in northern Texas.
The Saturday order follows the justices April 7 order in which they unanimously held that “AEA detainees must receive notice after the date of this order that they are subject to removal” under the AEA “within a reasonable time and in such a manner as will allow them to actually seek habeas relief in the proper venue before such removal occurs.”
In light of the high court’s ruling, an incredulous Sweeney questioned how the government could prevail in the instant case, asking the government’s attorney, “How could I not continue the temporary restraining order?” the Daily Camera reported.
Seeking to have the TRO lifted, the DOJ assured the court that any individuals subject to removal under the act would be given 24 hours to challenge their deportation before a judge, Denver CBS affiliate KCNC reported.
Attorneys from the ACLU and the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, the organizations representing the two unnamed petitioners in the case, pushed back on the administration’s position, asserting that affording migrants only one day to file individual habeas corpus petitions could not possibly comply with the Supreme Court’s directive requiring “reasonable time” for court challenges.
“The government wants to give as little notice as possible so they can pull people out of the country without a judge reviewing it,” Tim Macdonald, legal director of the ACLU of Colorado, told KCNC following the hearing. “The idea that 24 hours is sufficient for someone who’s detained at the Aurora detention facility, who likely doesn’t speak English, who may not have a high level of education, who doesn’t have a lawyer, who doesn’t have access to a phone — the idea that person can file a, quote, ‘writ of habeas corpus’ in 24 hours is preposterous.”
Macdonald reportedly requested that Sweeney not only prevent his clients from removal under the AEA, he also sought an order barring the deportation of any similarly situated individuals in Colorado. He claimed that of the approximately 1,200 people currently being held at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Aurora, about 85% do not have legal representation.
“They tried to remove people with hours’ notice and ship them out before a court could question that,” Macdonald said during the hearing, per Denver ABC affiliate KMGH. “They’re trying to use [the AEA] in a way that is unconstitutional and illegal.”
Before the hearing concluded, Sweeney, a Joe Biden appointee, reportedly said that she planned to issue a formal ruling within 24 hours.
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