(Reuters) – A federal judge in Pennsylvania has ruled the United States can use the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to fast-track the deportation of accused Venezuelan gang members in the state’s western district, but must give them at least 21 days’ notice and the opportunity to challenge their removals.
U.S. District Judge Stephanie Haines ruled that President Donald Trump has authority to declare Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua a terrorist organization and deport its members under the Alien Enemies Act. She made the ruling in court papers in the case of a Venezuelan man known as A.S.R.
The judge did not rule whether A.S.R. was a member of the gang, and said that people like him must be given the chance to challenge their deportations.
Haines, appointed by Trump during his first term, appears to be the first judge to back his administration’s interpretation of the Alien Enemies Act, which the president invoked in March as legal justification for deporting hundreds of men his administration accused of being Tren de Aragua members.
Judges in New York, Colorado and Texas have ruled against Trump’s use of the law to deport Venezuelans.
Haines said that the government must provide notice in Spanish and English, and provide interpreters when necessary.
The Trump administration has deported alleged gang members to a prison in El Salvador under an arrangement in which the United States is paying the Central American nation $6 million. It is part of Trump’s hardline approach toward immigration.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Ryan Patrick Jones and Dietrich Knauth; Editing by Chris Reese and Nia Williams)
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