Judge extends ban on deportations from Colorado stemming from Trump’s use of 1798 law

DENVER AP A federal judge has extended her order temporarily preventing the Trump administration from moving or deporting anyone from Colorado under an th century wartime act that has become ensnared in a U S Supreme Court battle District Court Judge Charlotte N Sweeney cited the high court s weekend order barring removal of anyone from North Texas where the ACLU had contended the administration was preparing to deport Venezuelans under the Alien Enemies Act of without giving them the legal notice required under a prior supreme court ruling Sweeney continued her freeze on removals from Colorado until May and indicated she may extend it further She required the federal leadership to provide days notice to anyone it seeks to deport so they can contest their removal She also expressed skepticism about the legality of Trump s use of the law to claim the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua was invading the United States At a bare minimum invasion means more than the Proclamation s description of TdA s infiltrat ion irregular warfare and hostile actions against the United States Sweeney wrote The Supreme Court earlier this month allowed deportations under the act but required the administration to give those targeted a reasonable chance to contest the removals in court The act has only been invoked three times in history largest part in recent months in World War II and the Supreme Court has yet to hear arguments about whether Trump can use it against a gang Several federal judges including Sweeney issued orders temporarily halting deportations in their areas in response to the initial high court ruling The ACLU demanded the Supreme Court to halt removals from an immigration detention center in North Texas where a judge had not barred deportations because it reported Venezuelan newcomers were given notice in English of their pending removal and not stated they had the right to contest it in court The court barred those removals in an rare order early Saturday The federal leadership argued it was too soon for the courts to act because it wasn t trying to remove the individual plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit at the time But Timothy Macdonald an ACLU attorney contended that was a shell contest that could lead the cabinet to promptly deport someone the second a court decides it doesn t have jurisdiction over their development Sweeney agreed extending her order and scheduling arguments for whether she should make it permanent Source