ACLU asks judge to force the Trump administration to state under oath if it violated his court order
Source: AP
Updated 11:02 AM EDT, March 17, 2025
Plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed to halt deportations under a rarely-used 18th century wartime law invoked by President Donald Trump asked a federal judge Monday to force officials to explain under oath whether they violated his court order by removing more than 200 people from the country after it was issued and celebrating it on social media.
The motion marks another escalation in the battle over Trump’s aggressive opening moves in his second term, several of which have been temporarily halted by judges. Trump’s allies have raged over the holds and suggested he does not have to obey them, and some plaintiffs have said it appears the administration is flouting court orders.
On Saturday night, District Judge James E. Boasberg ordered the administration not to deport anyone in its custody over the newly-invoked Alien Enemies Act, which has only been used three times before in U.S. history, all during congressionally-declared wars. Trump issued a proclamation that the 1798 law was newly in effect due to what he claimed was an invasion by the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua.
Trump’s invocation of the act could allow him to deport any noncitizen he says is associated with the gang, without offering proof or even publicly identifying them. The plaintiffs filed their suit on behalf of several Venezuelans in U.S. custody who feared they’d be falsely accused of being Tren de Aragua members and improperly removed from the country.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/aclu-trump-deportations-el-salvador-boasberg-e447c61de031150669d01687edc4b11b
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with some other country (literally "declared", which was the last time it was used - War of 1812, WW1, WW2).
And in that particular case, it skips over any due process that is normally used with other laws, to detain and/or deport what they consider "enemy combatants" (or alleged ones).
But if they allow this to proceed without any sign of a "war", and let it go unchallenged, then he CAN claim that people are associated with fictitious "state-sponsored" gangs or whatever and detain/deport them.
In the case of Japan, Germany, and Italy - we declared war against those countries and had detention camps (and believe it or not, there were some that housed Germans & Italians - I think some being POWs though, in many places) -
(https://web.archive.org/web/20151215083112/http://www.gaic.info/ShowPage.php?section=History&page=Related_Laws)
45's loons are trying to argue that the Venezuelan gang is like a "country" or is supposedly directed by one (and Maduro). But it still leaves out the obvious fact that we haven't "declared war" on Venezuela! 
