Trump-Appointed Judge Blocks Deportations Under Alien Enemies Act Over Potential For Mistake

A Texas judge blocked on Wednesday three deportations under the Alien Enemies Act, through which the Donald Trump administration is seeking to swiftly remove alleged gang members from the country.

Concretely, judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr., who was appointed by Trump, cited this week's Supreme Court ruling on the matter, which establishes that people targeted for deportation must be given time to challenge the decision and undergo judicial review.

"In the present matter, the Court finds that the removal" of the alleged gang members "or any other individual subject to the Proclamation, by the United States would cause immediate and irreparable injury to the removed individuals, as they would be unable to seek habeas relief," the judge said in a passage of his decision.

"Furthermore, if the United States erroneously removed an individual to another country based on the Proclamation, a substantial likelihood exists that the individual could not be returned to the United States," the judge added.

Rodriguez also noted that "maintaining the status quo is required to afford the parties the ability to develop a fuller record for the Court to consider the request for a preliminary injunction and other forms of relief as presented in the Class Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus, and to prevent the immediate and irreparable injury that may occur with the immediate removal of any Venezuelan alien subject to the Proclamation

Little is known about the 238 Venezuelan men who have already been deported and that El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele accepted in its mega-prison system known as CECOT. But through family denouncements and law firms, it has been confirmed that among the group there is a makeup artist, a soccer player, a food delivery driver and more. None of them have been previously accused of committing a crime.

The Trump administration has yet to release the identities of the men it sent to El Salvador. But CBS News recently obtained internal government documents listing the names of the prisoners and any known criminal information, revealing that the vast majority of them did not commit any serious criminal, violent offense.

According to the report, at least 22% of the men on the list have criminal records in the U.S. or abroad. Most are for non-violent offenses like theft, shoplifting and trespassing. About a dozen have been accused of murder, rape, assault and kidnapping.

For 3% of those deported it is unclear whether a criminal record exists. However, the news outlet could not find criminal records for 75% of the Venezuelans, or 179 men, who are sitting in a foreign prison.