USDC Judge Rodriguez Is First To Directly Rule Trump Cannot Use Alien Enemies Act. We Are NOT At War...

When all that matters is. . . the law, it really doesn't matter which Prez. appointed. . . the judge. It is just. . . the law. But I will mention here -- in this strange time -- even Trump appointees well-know this is. . . the law, Donnie. And I love that Trump touted him has his "first (and I think, only) Latino" appointee.

Here is the excellently-reasoned opinion in full -- and a bit of it:

. . .Petitioners J.A.V., J.G.G., and W.G.H. are natives of Venezuela currently detained at the El Valle Detention Center in Raymondville, Texas. They bring this action under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, alleging that by seeking to remove them from the United States based on the Proclamation, Respondents do so unlawfully and in violation of their due process rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. Petitioners challenge that the President can invoke the AEA under the alleged circumstances, and also deny that they are members of TdA. They bring suit individually and as representatives of a class of persons within the Southern District of Texas whom the Respondents will seek to remove based on the Proclamation and the AEA. Petitioners seek a permanent injunction barring the Respondents from employing the AEA to remove them. . . .

The question that this lawsuit presents is whether the President can utilize a specific statute, the AEA, to detain and remove Venezuelan aliens who are members of TdA. As to that question, the historical record renders clear that the President’s invocation of the AEA through the Proclamation exceeds the scope of the statute and is contrary to the plain, ordinary meaning of the statute’s terms. As a result, the Court concludes that as a matter of law, the Executive Branch cannot rely on the AEA, based on the Proclamation, to detain the Named Petitioners and the certified class, or to remove them from the country. . . .

Now you know. Grinning ear to ear!

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