A federal judge in Denver has issued a temporary order preventing the deportation of detainees held in Colorado under a controversial law invoked by the Trump administration.
This order specifically prohibits the removal of “all noncitizens in custody in the District of Colorado who were, are, or will be subject to” President Trump’s March 14 directive.
This directive invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, claiming that the United States is under “invasion” by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
The law served as the basis for the deportation last month of over 200 Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), where the U.S. government is financing their detention.
According to reports, approximately 90% of those deported had no criminal record, while only a few had been charged with serious crimes.
A concerning case highlighted in recent media coverage involves Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who was reportedly removed due to an “administrative error.”
Advocates, attorneys, and family members of various deportees state that many were mistakenly identified as TdA members based on tattoos commemorating family members or their favorite soccer teams.
Judge Charlotte Sweeney’s ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed against the Trump administration by attorneys for two Venezuelan nationals currently detained at an ICE facility in Aurora, Colorado.
Both men, whose initials are used for fear of retaliation, claim they have been falsely accused of affiliations with the Tren de Aragua gang.
The first plaintiff, D.B.U., is a 32-year-old asylum seeker who has lived in Colorado with his wife and two children.
He was arrested during a January 26 raid by Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents at a makeshift nightclub in Adams County.
The DEA described the event as a “Tren de Aragua party,” but later admitted that many individuals arrested were from various countries, including some European nations.
Notably, the agency has refused to disclose the names of those detained and the number suspected to have ties to the gang, raising concerns about transparency.
D.B.U. fears he will be deported under the Alien Enemies Act based on the DEA’s characterization of the event, coupled with a single tattoo of his niece’s name.
The second plaintiff, R.M.M., firmly denies membership in TdA, asserting he left Venezuela to seek asylum after the gang murdered two of his family members.
He too lived in Aurora with his family before his arrest on March 1.
Nearly six weeks after his detention, a heavily redacted ICE filing accused him of having links to TdA.
R.M.M. contends that he has several tattoos of personal significance, including one representing his birth year and another honoring a family member, none of which are related to gang affiliations.
The lawsuit filed by the ACLU in Colorado parallels other legal challenges initiated in Texas and New York, following a Supreme Court ruling that allowed deportations under the Alien Enemies Act to continue.
However, it emphasized that detainees must receive due process and the ability to contest their removal in court.
Subsequently, Trump administration officials suggested that detainees could be given just 24 hours’ notice prior to their deportation, placing the plaintiffs and other detainees in Colorado “at imminent risk of removal.”
The ACLU attorneys argue that such a suggestion contradicts Supreme Court requirements and could result in detainees lacking proper notice or the ability to seek judicial review before being sent to a high-security prison in El Salvador.
This situation raises grave concerns since detainees could potentially face lifelong incarceration in conditions that are being characterized as harsh.
While presenting his case, Trump has made various claims during campaign events, describing cities like Aurora as “invaded and conquered” by TdA.
His administration and far-right figures have made numerous exaggerated claims regarding the influence and destructiveness of the gang within Colorado, especially amid the competitive nature of the 2024 presidential race.
Local police officials in Denver and Aurora have consistently characterized the gang’s presence as “isolated” and relatively minor.
Tren de Aragua has been associated with specific criminal activities primarily located in certain Aurora apartment complexes popular among Venezuelan migrants.
However, several residents attribute such criminal activities to negligent landlords and deteriorating living conditions within these buildings.
Additionally, crime rates in Aurora and throughout Colorado have actually declined since 2022, contrary to claims of an uptick in criminal activity due to the arrival of new immigrants.
In 2024, at least two dozen alleged TdA members were arrested on various charges by Denver-area police.
Despite a high-profile crackdown efforts targeting the gang, federal authorities have arrested relatively few individuals with clear affiliations to TdA.
Notably, the DEA later acknowledged that no criminal charges emerged from the January 26 raid.
In a subsequent ICE operation targeting “100+ members” of TdA, officials revealed that only one of reportedly 30 arrests made that day was suspected of having any ties to the gang.
D.B.U. and R.M.M.’s attorneys have filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus along with a request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) to prohibit their summary deportation.
They argue that substantial evidence exists which casts doubt on the government’s identification of individuals as “alien enemies,” without allowing them the opportunity to contest these labels.
“A TRO is needed because there may not be sufficient time for this court to intervene before people are put on planes to remove petitioners from the United States,” their filing states.
Judge Sweeney has directed the Trump administration to respond to the motion for the TRO by Thursday and scheduled a hearing on the motion for April 21.
In the meantime, she has issued an order that prohibits the removal of the defendants and comparable detainees from the jurisdiction.
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