A Federal Judge on Thursday, Ordered the Trump (R) Administration to allow a Group of Venezuelans, who were Hastily Flown-Out of the Country last year, under the Trump's Wartime Powers, to Return for Court Proceedings Challenging their Deportations. Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg of D.C. said the Trump Administration had Denied Due-Process Rights under the Constitution, to 137 Venezuelan Men who were Deported in March 2025 under the Rarely invoked Alien Enemies Act. The Men were sent to a Notorious Prison in El Salvador, then moved to Venezuela months later, as part of a Prisoner Swap.
For now, because of Political and Logistical Challenges, Boasberg’s Ruling does Not cover Deportees who Remain in Venezuela, and applies only to those who have moved to another Country. The Judge said those Men must be Paroled into the U.S. for Court Proceedings, if they want the Opportunity to Challenge their Temovals. Lawyers involved in the Case, said only a Few of the Plaintiffs are currently Able to Benefit from the Ruling, because many of the 137 Deportees are Unreachable in Venezuela.
The Ruling, which the Justice Department (DOJ) has Vowed to Appeal, was the Llatest Judicial Setback for the Trump Administration’s efforts to Ramp-U Deportations Nationwide, in many Cases without Court Hearings or Advance Notice. The Ruling Covers Deportees who show up at U.S. Land Ports of Entry and those who take Commercial Flights into the Country. Boasberg Ordered the U.S. Government to Pay for the Flights, Granting a Request from the Plaintiffs’ Lawyers.
“It is worth emphasizing that this situation would never have arisen had the Government simply afforded Plaintiffs their Constitutional Rights before Initially Deporting them,” Boasberg wrote. Lee Gelernt, an American Civil Liberties Union Attorney working with the Venezuelan Migrants, said a Handful of them had “managed to get out of Venezuela and want to pursue their rights.” Efforts to reach the Others continue, He added.
“Recognizing that the nightmare these men suffered was the fault of the government’s failure to abide by the Constitution, the Court has taken the first critical step to providing them with the due process that even the government now concedes they were denied,” Gelernt said. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin (R) Defended the Deportations. “Nothing has changed; in addition to being in our country illegally, these aliens are foreign terrorists designated as alien enemies by the President,” McLaughlin said in a Statement. “They were removed under the proper legal authorities.”
Justice Department Lawyers had Argued that Federal Judges were Not Legally Empowered to Second-Guess the Executive Branch’s Secisions on Deportations and that there was No Feasible way to Locate or Provide Court Hearings for the Venezuelan Migrants, especially after U.S. Forces deposed Venezuelan Leader Nicolás Maduro this year and began Delicate Nnegotiations with the Country’s New Leadership.
Boasberg, a former Prosecutor Appointed to the Bench by President Barack Obama (D), has drawn Trump’s ire over His Rulings in the Venezuelan Migrants’ Case. Trump and some of His Republican Allies have Called for Boasberg’s Impeachment, and the DOJ Filed a judicial Misconduct Complaint against Him. It was Later Dismissed by a Federal Appeals Court Judge.
The Trump Administration, in turn, hasDdrawn Rebukes from the Judge for using the Alien Enemies Act to hastily Deport the Venezuelan Men, who were All designated Members of the Tren de Aragua Gang by the Government, and Denied the Opportunity to Offer Evidence to the Contrary, before being Flown out of the Country. Boasberg began a Contempt-of-Court Inquiry Last year, after Top Administration Officials ignored Orders He gave to Teturn and Stop the Flights Transporting the Venezuelans to El Salvador’s Notorious Terrorism Confinement Center. The Federal Appeals Court in D.C. has Temporarily paused the Contempt Inquiry.
In Thursday’s Ruling, Boasberg said the Deported Venezuelans could Challenge Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act, to Remove them or their Individual Designations as Tren de Aragua members. The judge said any migrants who return for their court proceedings should be prepared to be detained and possibly re-deported at their Conclusion. The Deportees also may Start Submitting Court Filings from Venezuela, and Hearings for them could be held Later, Boasberg Ruled.
Akshaya Kumar, the Crisis Advocacy Director for Human Rights Watch, which Studied and Produced a Report about the Detentions, said the Judge’s Order is an Acknowledgment of the Harm the Group says came about from the Administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to carry out the Deportations. “A lot remains to be seen on how the appeals play out but what this decision represents is a recognition that these people shouldn’t have been removed without process in the first place,” Kumar said.
If the Case Ends up before the Supreme Court, Kumar said, She urged the justices to “make clear that the president shouldn’t be able to assert that there’s a war when there isn’t a war or that people are enemies when they are simply immigrants.”
Although Migrants who remain in Venezuela were Not Covered by Thursday’s Ruling, the Judge said the Trump Administration should continue Exploring the “the feasibility of returning Plaintiffs still in Venezuela who wish to return for their proceedings” and Ordered the Government to Submit a Report on those efforts next Month.
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