Split Federal Court Upholds Block on Trump, Alien Enemies Act Can’t Be Used

Conservative News DailyMarch 27, 2025

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A panel of three federal judges declined to lift a prohibition against the White House sending Venezuelan gang members to prison in El salvador.This decision upholds a March 15 ruling by judge James Boasberg that prevents the Trump administration from deporting these individuals under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. Judges Karen Henderson and Patricia Millett, who voted against the appeal from the Justice Department, argued that the order maintains the status quo until serious legal issues can be resolved and expressed concerns over the government possibly exiling individuals without proper due process.

Judge Justin Walker, the sole dissenter, argued that the district court’s orders coudl harm national security negotiations and interfere with ongoing operations. He criticized Judge Boasberg for allegedly overstepping judicial boundaries, resulting in calls for impeachment from Republican Representative Brandon Gill, who accused Boasberg of compromising judicial impartiality and violating constitutional principles. The ruling and the surrounding controversy highlight the tensions between immigration policy and judicial authority in the U.S.

A panel of three federal judges declined Wednesday to lift a prohibition on the White House sending Venezuelan gang members to prison in El Salvador.

The split panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia decided against nixing a March 15 order from Judge James Boasberg prohibiting the Trump administration from deporting the alleged criminals under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, according to a report from the Associated Press.

Judge Karen Henderson, a nominee of George H.W. Bush, and Judge Patricia Millett, an Obama nominee, voted against an appeal from the Justice Department against blocking deportations.

Millet asserted that the order from Boasberg simply imposed the status quo “until weighty and unprecedented legal issues can be addressed.”

“There is neither jurisdiction nor reason for this court to interfere at this very preliminary stage or to allow the government to singlehandedly moot the Plaintiffs’ claims by immediately removing them beyond the reach of their lawyers or the court,” she asserted.

Henderson meanwhile argued that “lifting the injunctions risks exiling plaintiffs to a land that is not their country of origin.

“Indeed, at oral argument before this Court, the government in no uncertain terms conveyed that — were the injunction lifted — it would immediately begin deporting plaintiffs without notice,” she added.

Judge Justin Walker, a Trump nominee, wrote the lone dissent.

“The Government has also shown that the district court’s orders threaten irreparable harm to delicate negotiations with foreign powers on matters concerning national security,” he said.

Walker voiced concern about the Boasberg order interfering “with an ongoing, partially overseas, national-security operation,” according to a report from the New York Post.

“The district court ‘commanded an unprecedented action’ from the bench: The district judge ordered aircraft to be turned around mid-flight in the middle of this sensitive ongoing national-security operation,” he continued.

Boasberg has been the subject of substantial criticism for his order.

Rep. Brandon Gill, a Republican from Texas, filed articles of impeachment against Boasberg following the decision.

Gill accused him of “high crimes and misdemeanors” in the form of allegedly pursuing “political gain” while blocking “constitutional prerogatives and enforcement of the rule of law” from the executive branch.

“By making a political decision outside the scope of his judicial duties, he compromised the impartiality of our judicial system and created a constitutional crisis,” Gill asserted.

The lawmaker said Boasberg violated “his oath to the Constitution and duty of impartiality to the people of the United States.”

The resolution also asserted that Boasberg overlooked Supreme Court decisions about executive power and “illegitimately tried to substitute his own judgment for that of the elected President of the United States, thereby usurping the role of the Executive and unilaterally taking upon himself the power and authority of the President.”