Attorney General Pam Bondi denounced a federal judge for pausing President Donald Trump‘s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 on the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang.
Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia paused the order for 14 days on Saturday, shortly after it was issued, arguing that some of those deported under the order could face irreparable harm. Bondi, in a statement Saturday evening, said the Justice Department is “undeterred” in its efforts to support the White House’s deportation efforts and warned the order “puts the public and law enforcement at risk.”
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“Tonight, a DC trial judge supported Tren de Aragua terrorists over the safety of Americans. TdA is represented by the ACLU. This order disregards well-established authority regarding President Trump’s power, and it puts the public and law enforcement at risk,” Bondi said.
“The Department of Justice is undeterred in its efforts to work with the White House, the Department of Homeland Security, and all of our partners to stop this invasion and Make America Safe Again,” she added.
Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 on Saturday after months of teasing such action on the campaign trail, declaring the Tren de Aragua is “perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States.”
FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS TWO-WEEK STOP ON TRUMP DEPORTATIONS TARGETING TREN DE ARAGUA MEMBERS
“I proclaim that all Venezuelan citizens 14 years of age or older who are members of TdA, are within the United States, and are not actually naturalized or lawful permanent residents of the United States are liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as Alien Enemies,” Trump said in the proclamation.
The president’s order comes less than a month after the Trump administration declared several cartels as terrorist organizations.
