By Another liberal federal judge decided that he gets to play president rather than Donald Trump and temporarily blocked the White House from removing Venezuelan gang members from the United States by using a rarely invoked wartime law, ordering the immediate return of any planes already in transit.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, a George W. Bush appointee, issued an emergency ruling to halt enforcement of President Donald Trump’s directive under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. His order prevents the removal of Venezuelan migrants at least until the court can further assess the legality of Trump’s proclamation, which classified the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua as a foreign threat similar to an invading force. The gang has gotten attention for taking over a series of apartment complexes and creating torture chambers in Colorado.
Boasberg instructed that any aircraft carrying deported individuals must return to the United States, regardless of its current location. The ruling followed a lawsuit filed on behalf of five Venezuelan migrants challenging the administration’s use of the centuries-old statute. The law has been employed only three times in American history—during the War of 1812, World War I, and World War II. The low-level judge’s decision extended the suit to include all non-citizens facing deportation under Trump’s order, effectively turning it into a class-action case and effectively taking decision power away from the president and placing into district courts.
The two planes carrying the gang members, who were in the United States illegally to begin with, however, had already taken off when the order went into effect, reported The Washington Post. The White House, which doesn’t believe the injunction will stand scrutiny on appeal anyway, said it was too late.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed immigration officials had “arrested nearly 300 Tren de Aragua terrorists” over the weekend and sent them to El Salvador. The country’s president, Nayib Bukele, said that 238 members of the transnational Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and 23 members of the Salvadoran MS-13 gang had already arrived in El Salvador and were in his custody, with a social media post responding to the judge’s ruling that said “Oopsie, too late,” followed by a laughing emoji.
“Thank you for your assistance and friendship, President Bukele,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio replied on X.
As he issued his ruling, the judge said he heard that “flights are actively departing” and ordered the Trump administration to immediately halt the removals and return to the United States any flights that were in the air.
He said the immigrants — who could be as young as 14, under the proclamation — clearly face irreparable harm, “given that these folks will be deported and many or the vast majority to prisons in other countries or sent back to Venezuela, where they face persecution, or worse.”
“This is something that you need to make sure is complied with immediately,” he told the Justice Department.
Trump’s proclamation, signed on Friday and released the following day, invoked the Alien Enemies Act to justify the swift removal of non-citizens considered national security risks. The order directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to formally establish the policy and inform state governors and federal judges. However, officials have not disclosed how many people will be affected or how the administration will determine who qualifies under the directive.
The judge did not explain why a low-level district judge would be allowed to make that decision over the president of the United States.
The restraining order will remain in effect for 14 days, with further hearings scheduled for the following week. The administration has already appealed the ruling to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in an attempt to reinstate the deportations. The Justice Department defended the order, asserting that the president has unilateral authority over national security decisions.
Scott Jennings, a conservative CNN commentator, pointed out that it was another case where Democrats were siding with the “20” on an 80-20 issue.
Prepare for the next 80/20 issue – Dems passionately arguing for the return of Venezuelan gang members to spite Trump. https://t.co/HIwiaSOOhb
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) March 16, 2025
A recent poll from CNN showed that the radicalism from Democrats has made them deeply unpopular.
“Among the American public overall, the Democratic Party’s favorability rating stands at just 29% – a record low in CNN’s polling dating back to 1992 and a drop of 20 points since January 2021, when Trump exited his first term under the shadow of the January 6 attack at on Capitol….That’s driven in part by relatively high levels of dissatisfaction within the Democratic Party. Just 63% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents report a favorable view of their own party, a dip from 72% in January and 81% at the start of President Joe Biden’s administration. The decline comes across ideological wings, with favorability ratings for the Democratic Party falling by 18 points among liberals and moderates alike since the start of 2021.”
