Federal Judge Says Trump Misapplied Wartime Law for Venezuelan Deportations

In a different case this past week, a judge in Texas also ruled that the administration improperly applied the Alien Enemies Act.

President Donald Trump takes a question from a reporter in the Oval Office at the White House on May 5, 2025. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

A federal judge in New York has blocked the government from deporting suspected Venezuelan gang members, holding that the Trump administration improperly invoked an 18th-century law and failed to provide due process for deportees.

Issued on May 6, the order is the second preliminary injunction issued by a federal judge in less than a week. Challenges to the deportations have been ongoing, with several more temporary orders, including from the Supreme Court, blocking a proclamation President Donald Trump signed in March.