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U.S. Circuit Judge Patricia Millett remarked during the oral arguments of a case in Washington recently that Nazis were allowed more process in contesting their removal from America during World War Two as compared to Venezuelan migrants whose deportation was ordered by President Trump.
Millett's comments came during the hearing conducted on Monday when she had a rather heated exchange with government attorney Drew Ensign, who was representing the government. These Venezuelan migrants, subject to removal as part of an rarely utilized 18th-century law, were allegedly members of the Tren de Aragua gang prior to being deported to El Salvador, and Judge Millett wanted to know if they had any option available to contest the government's claim prior to being put on the airplane.
With respect to the treatment of the Venezuelans under the Alien Enemies Act, Judge Millet said: “Nazis got better treatment under the Alien Enemies Act than has happened here.” To which Ensign retorted arguing that, “We certainly dispute the Nazi analogy.”
The law, originally enacted during the war with France, was most popularly applied during WWII, as the Japanese, Germans and Italians in the US were classed as enemies. This law had not previously been used in the United States since the Second World War until it was invoked by the Trump administration to remove alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang. Trump’s administration was appealing against a two-week ban imposed at the start of March by Washington-based U.S. District Judge James Boasberg on detailing issues concerning deportation without proper immigration legislations in place.
Relatives of some of the Venezuelan migrants that were deported deny the alleged connections to the gangs. According to lawyers of the deportee, who happens to be a Venezuelan professional soccer player turned youth coach, American authorities had placed a baseless accusation on him of being a gang member because of his tattoo that bore a crown which denotes his support for Real Madrid.
Millett, Obama’s apointee, is one of the three judges on the panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit tasked with reviewing the government’s appeal of Boasberg’s order, along with U.S. Circuit Judge Justin Walker, who was appointed by Donald Trump during his firterm as president. Walker seemed to be more sympathetic to the government’s side of the argument.
Governor of the third panel, Henderson has a republican affiliation under Bush. The court has not, however, set a deadline for a ruling to be made.
This is one of the most embargoed cases of Trump’s executive power. Since there is a Republican majority in both parts of Congress, they are guaranteed to side with the president, but the federal judges restrict what is known as the 'Trump’s wave' of executive actions.
During court proceedings on a Monday, government attorneys claimed they would no longer give any further details regarding the deportation flights, arguing the need for state secrets privilege. State secrets privilege is when the government covers its actions that may compromise national security while in court.
After Boasberg’s suspension of deportations, Trump moved to seek the judges impeachment which can lead to their dismissal which then prompted him to call for the Judges impeachment. Consequentially, he received Trump’s criticism and statement by U.S Supreme court john Roberts who stated, in an uncommon fashion, that disagreement with judicial rulings should be followed with appeals and not impeachment.
‘HOISTED' ONTO PLANES
Trump further claimed the country's judiciary is overstepping more than his administration actively is.
Ensign, during the hearing on Monday, argued that the appeals judges should pause enforcement of Boasberg's order because he cannot restrain the president on foreign affairs, in reply to the question posed to him by bus driver. Walker posed the question to Judge Lee Gelernt, a member of the American Civil Liberties who is a lawyer defending some Venezuelan migrants about known instances where court actions limiting the powers of the president concerning national security have been actioned and not overturned.
Since American Government has made a firm stance on not providing people with due process being a breach to national security, Gelernt stated that they would lose their chance to claim that.
In a 37-page ruling earlier Monday, Boasberg denied an application from the Trump administration to lift the two-week ban. The judge said that people need to be able to contest the government’s assertion that they are members of Tren de Aragua before they can be deported.
Boasberg is also considering if the Trump administration did not comply with his order to bring back the deportation flights after his order was issued, thus, violating his order.
The judge noted that the administration seems to have “hustled people onto those planes” to evade a possible judicial injunction halting the deportations.
On March 15, The Trump administration deported over 200 people to El Salvador, where for them a massive anti-terror prison in the country is awaiting under a deal in which Washington pays President Nayib Bukule’s government $6 million.
Boasberg's ruling on Monday dealt with the five plaintiffs represented by the ACLU of which there were a previous narrow ruling, plus additional Venezuelans in the U.S. who may be subject to deportation under the Alien Enemies Act. He did not cover the migrants in exile currently in El Salvador.
On Monday, the ACLU asked Boasberg to make the migrants return to America, if he determines they were deported in disregard to his order, for the migrants to be returned to America.
The ACLU accused a government of taking eight Venezuelan women and a Nicaraguan man, flying them to El Salvador only to reject the government and return them back to America.
One of the Venezuelan women in a way swore claimed that she overheard a US official while on a flight saying an ordered statement of “we can’t take off.”
