


A federal judge on Monday grilled the Justice Department over whether the Trump administration‘s one-day notice for Venezuelan detainees is enough time for them to challenge their rapid removal under the Alien Enemies Act.
U.S. District Judge Stephanie Haines, a Trump-appointed judge in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was weighing the case of a Venezuelan man accused by the Trump administration of having ties to the Tren de Aragua gang on Monday. The case centers on whether the wartime provision can be cited to send the migrant to the Terrorism Confinement Center, a megaprison in El Salvador, on as little as 24 hours’ notice.
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DOJ lawyer Michael Velchik argued that the detainee’s current status shields him from Alien Enemies Act removal for now. However, he repeatedly declined to say whether the administration would designate the detainee as subject to the Alien Enemies Act in the future.
“I’m not aware of any intent to do so,” Velchik said, according to CNN. “I wouldn’t want to concrete that.”
The hearing, one of eight similar cases nationwide, reflects the Trump administration’s aggressive efforts to bypass ordinary immigration proceedings when targeting alleged gang members. Critics such as the American Civil Liberties Union suggest these deportations are being rushed, without the Trump administration giving detainees proper notice or meaningful time to respond.
The ACLU represents the unnamed Venezuelan who was detained in Pennsylvania and is currently being held in Texas with other Venezuelans accused of being affiliated with Tren de Aragua. ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt argued Monday that under the administration’s current system, detainees may get as little as 12 hours to challenge their removal before being flown out of the country.
Gelernt told the court that not only is the time insufficient, but detainees are also struggling to access court filings or even understand notices provided in Spanish.
“Any ethnic, religious group could be tagged” by the federal government as subject to removal under the Alien Enemies Act, Gelernt warned, calling it “very dangerous territory.”
Haines pressed the government on whether a 12- to 24-hour window is realistic.
“I understand reasonable notice, but they have to be given time to challenge,” she said.
Velchik countered that “the government believes this is reasonable.”
JUDGE RULES TRUMP UNLAWFULLY INVOKED ALIEN ENEMIES ACT
Haines’s hearing on whether to issue a preliminary injunction against the administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act came just days after U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez, another Trump appointee, found that the president exceeded the “scope” of the act.
The Trump administration has insisted that its use of the Alien Enemies Act is lawful and necessary to remove gang-affiliated migrants quickly and that President Donald Trump has the discretion to declare unlawful entries into the United States by thousands of illegal migrants in recent years as a “predatory incursion.”