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Trump-Appointed Judge OKs Trump’s Use of Alien Enemies Act to Deport Venezuelans

HeadlineMay 14, 2025

A federal judge in Pennsylvania has upheld President Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan immigrants without due process. U.S. District Judge Stephanie Lou Haines’s ruling is the first to support Trump’s use of the 1798 wartime law, after judges in three other federal jurisdictions ruled Trump does not have the power to use the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged gang members. Judge Haines was nominated to the federal bench by Trump during his first term.

On Monday, disgraced former Congressmember Matt Gaetz of Florida brought a television crew from the far-right One America News Network into the CECOT mega-prison in El Salvador. Footage shows prisoners — some of whom were deported from the U.S. without due process — packed into crowded cells, shouting “freedom” and using hand gestures calling for help.

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