ACLU Comment on Trump Administration Plan to Prohibit Many Asylum Applications

Ruling Stems from Lawsuit Filed this Morning by ACLU and Democracy Forward WASHINGTON — A federal judge tonight broadened the scope of a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking the Trump administration from removing immigrants from the United States using the Alien Enemies Act. The ruling extended the order to everyone in danger of removal under the act and granted class certification. The ruling stems from a lawsuit, J.G.G. v. Trump, filed this morning by the American Civil Liberties Union, Democracy Forward, and the ACLU of the District of Columbia challenging the president’s then-expected unlawful and unprecedented invocation of the act. The Trump administration ultimately published the president’s invocation of the act today, although it was actually signed yesterday. Earlier today, the court ordered the individual plaintiffs in this lawsuit not be removed from the United States for 14 days. A remote hearing was then held early this evening before Chief Judge James E. Boasberg, where the ACLU and Democracy Forward successfully requested preliminary certification of a class action and the expansion of the TRO to everyone detained and in danger of removal under the act. The TRO motion this evening was argued by Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project and lead counsel in this case. In addition, a hearing on the lawsuit’s merits is scheduled for March 21 in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. More information to follow. More information about the lawsuit filed today is here.

Ruling Stems from Lawsuit Filed Today by the ACLU and Democracy Forward Two Related Hearings Scheduled for Today and Monday WASHINGTON — A federal judge has granted a temporary restraining order blocking the Trump administration from removing some immigrants from the United States using the Alien Enemies Act. The ruling stems from a lawsuit, J.G.G. v. Trump, filed earlier today by the American Civil Liberties Union, Democracy Forward, and the ACLU of the District of Columbia challenging the president’s expected unlawful and unprecedented invocation of the act. The court ordered the individual plaintiffs in this lawsuit not be removed from the United States for 14 days. A remote hearing has been scheduled for today, Saturday, March 15, at 5 p.m. before Chief Judge James E. Boasberg. The ACLU and Democracy Forward will ask that the temporary restraining order be broadened to everyone in danger of removal under the act. Hearing access details here. In addition, an in-person hearing on the lawsuit’s merits is scheduled for Monday, March 17, at 4 p.m. in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. More information about the lawsuit filed today is here.

WASHINGTON — The American Civil Liberties Union, Democracy Forward, and the ACLU of the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration today over the president’s expected unlawful and unprecedented invocation of the Alien Enemies Act. The Alien Enemies Act, passed in 1798, is a wartime authority providing that the president may — after a public proclamation — apprehend, restrain, and remove citizens of a foreign country that is engaged in a “declared war” or “invasion or predatory incursion” against the United States. The lawsuit charges that President Trump intends to invoke the centuries-old wartime act unlawfully during peacetime to accelerate mass deportations, sidestepping the limits of this wartime authority and the procedures and protections in immigration law. The Alien Enemies Act’s previous use during wartime — for example, its invocation during World War II to justify the internment of people of Japanese ancestry — has correctly drawn sustained criticism. Employing it as a way to evade domestic laws in peacetime is fundamentally wrong. “The Trump administration’s intent to use a wartime authority for immigration enforcement is as unprecedented as it is lawless. It may be the administration's most extreme measure yet, and that is saying a lot,” said Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project and lead counsel. “The United States is not at war, nor has it been invaded. The president’s anticipated invocation of wartime authority — which is not needed to conduct lawful immigration enforcement operations — is the latest step in an accelerating authoritarian playbook,” said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward. “From improperly apprehending American citizens, to violating the ability of communities to peacefully worship, to now improperly trying to invoke a law that is responsible for some of our nation’s most shameful actions, this administration’s immigration agenda is as lawless as it is harmful.” “There is no foreign military action to justify President Trump’s intended invocation of this act, making his actions not only unlawful but an outright assault on fundamental rights. This is yet another dangerous overreach by the administration, designed to support an unchecked mass deportation program, all while bypassing the necessary judicial review,” said Arthur Spitzer, senior counsel at the ACLU of the District of Columbia. The complaint is here. The TRO memo is here.