US judge in Texas orders release of Venezuelan couple, temporarily blocks deportations
Story by Jonathan Limehouse, USA TODAY • 17h
A federal judge in Texas ruled against deporting Venezuelan immigrants, finding it inappropriate for President Donald Trump to invoke the 1798 wartime law, the Alien Enemies Act.
U.S. District Judge David Briones, of El Paso, made the ruling on April 25, and ordered the release of Julio Cesar Sanchez Puentes and Luddis Norelia Sanchez Garcia from a federal detention facility in El Paso, a couple accused of being members of the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, according to the court opinion obtained by USA TODAY.
Briones' decision found that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials failed to prove "any lawful basis" indicating why the couple should be detained any longer for an alleged alien enemy violation, according to the judge's opinion.
“There is no doubt the Executive Branch’s unprecedented peacetime use of wartime power has caused chaos and uncertainty for individual petitions as well as the judicial branch in how to manage and evaluate the Executive’s claims of Tren de Aragua membership, and the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act as a whole,” wrote Briones, who was appointed in 1994 by President Bill Clinton.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-judge-in-texas-orders-release-of-venezuelan-couple-temporarily-blocks-deportations/ar-AA1DGc1B?ocid=widgetonlockscreen&cvid=b4b24b9b20e74eceb5e98ae6dffc8c0c&ei=51
