DC judge won’t pause deportation flights under Alien Enemies Act but is concerned about Trump admin’s actions

A federal judge in Washington, DC, told lawyers for migrants in Texas who believed the Trump administration is about to swiftly deport them under the Alien Enemies Act that he did not have the power to pause the deportations, even though he was concerned about the administration’s actions.

A federal judge in Washington, DC, told lawyers for migrants in Texas who believed the Trump administration is about to swiftly deport them under the Alien Enemies Act that he did not have the power to pause the deportations, even though he was concerned about the administration’s actions. “I am sympathetic to everything you’re saying, I just don’t I think I have the power to do anything,” US District Judge James Boasberg told a lawyer for the migrants at an emergency hearing Friday night. Before announcing his decision not to get involved, Boasberg pressed an attorney for the administration on whether it will move forward with the deportations Friday night or Saturday. Justice Department attorney Drew Ensign told Boasberg that while no flights are planned, the Department of Homeland Security said it reserves the right to remove the migrants on Saturday. The migrants’ lawyers also have pending requests for intervention at the Supreme Court and 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which oversees appeals coming out of Texas. The migrants’ lawyers – counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union and Democracy Forward – turned to Boasberg for emergency relief in the initial case they brought in his court challenging President Donald Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act, a sweeping 18th century wartime authority. The case traveled to the Supreme Court once already, and the justices said that migrants could only challenge their deportations in court districts containing the facilities where they’re being detained.