A federal judge in West Texas has temporarily halted the deportations of Venezuelan immigrants under the controversial 18th-century Wartime Alien Enemies Act.
U.S. District Judge David Briones, based in El Paso, delivered the ruling while ordering the release of a couple accused of affiliations with a Venezuelan criminal gang known as Tren de Aragua.
In his decision, Judge Briones stated that government attorneys failed to provide sufficient legal grounds for the continued detention of the couple on suspected violations of the Alien Enemies Act.
This act allows the president to deport noncitizens aged 14 years and older from countries with which the U.S. is at war, a provision that the Trump administration has invoked regarding Venezuelans.
Briones’ ruling on Friday aligns with similar decisions from courts in south Texas, Colorado, and New York that have blocked deportations of Venezuelan individuals under this wartime law.
Notably, the U.S. Supreme Court recently intervened, stopping deportations for Venezuelans in northern Texas while affirming that anyone subject to deportation under Trump’s declaration is entitled to a federal court hearing and has a reasonable timeframe to contest their removal.
Judge Briones’ ruling specifically impacts Venezuelan immigrants in federal custody within his judicial district.
As part of his ruling, he mandated that the government provide a 21-day notice prior to the removal of any individual in West Texas, in stark contrast to the 12 hours the government claims is sufficient notice.
This decision emerges amid ongoing tensions between the Trump administration and local authorities concerning the aggressive immigration policies being enforced by the government.
Briones delivered his ruling on the same day that an FBI agent arrested a Milwaukee judge accused of aiding an individual in evading immigration enforcement.
The judge, nominated to the federal court by President Bill Clinton in 1994, emphasized the importance of established due process rights for the removal of noncitizens as outlined in the Immigration and Nationality Act and affirmed by previous Supreme Court rulings.
He remarked on the disarray the Executive Branch’s unprecedented peacetime application of wartime powers has introduced, particularly in relation to the membership claims of the Tren de Aragua gang and the broader implications of invoking the Alien Enemies Act.
The couple at the heart of the case, Julio Cesar Sanchez Puentes and Luddis Norelia Sanchez Garcia, initially entered the United States from Mexico in October 2022 and were granted temporary protected status.
However, their status was terminated on April 1.
They were subsequently arrested at the El Paso airport on April 16 as they were preparing to fly back to their residence in Washington, D.C., where they live with their three children.
The couple had traveled to Texas for a pretrial hearing related to their removal proceedings scheduled on April 14, which has since been postponed until June 23, allowing them to remain free on bail in the meantime.
As legal battles continue over immigration enforcement and deportation policies, Judge Briones’ ruling serves as a significant development in the ongoing discourse surrounding the treatment of Venezuelan immigrants in the U.S.
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