Appeals court won’t lift Boasberg’s order blocking Alien Enemies Act
by Zach Schonfeld - 03/26/25 4:18 PM ET
Evan Vucci, Associated Press; and Valerie Plesch, Bloomberg via Getty Images
President Trump; District Judge James Boasberg
A federal appeals court in a 2-1 decision Wednesday refused to lift U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s order blocking the Trump administration from swiftly deporting migrants under the Alien Enemies Act.
The Justice Department had urged the three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to immediately block Boasberg’s order, casting it as an intrusion on the president’s executive authority over national security.
The case has attracted significant attention after the administration leveraged the rarely used law to quickly deport hundreds of migrants officials claim are Venezuelan gang members to a notorious El Salvador prison.
In separate opinions, U.S. Circuit Judge Karen Henderson raised skepticism of the administration’s ability to invoke the law, while U.S. Circuit Judge Patricia Millett said the court had no jurisdiction given the temporary nature of Boasberg’s order.
Both stressed the preliminary nature of the case and that Boasberg is set to soon rule on whether to grant a longer injunction.
“The government will have ample opportunity to prove its case and its evidence should be afforded the requisite deference due the President’s national security judgments,” Henderson wrote.
U.S. Circuit Judge Justin Walker dissented, saying the migrants needed to challenge their detention in Texas, where they were detained before being flown out of the country, through what is known as a habeas petition.
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“And whatever public interest exists for the Plaintiffs to have their day in court, they can have that day in court where the rules of habeas require them to bring their suit — in Texas,” Walker wrote.
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