DENVER — A U.S. federal judge in Colorado is expected to rule this week on whether or not to block deportations under the Alien Enemies Act.
President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) last month to send immigrants in the U.S. illegally to the notorious Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) Prison in El Salvador. The act, which dates back to 1798, has been used only three other times in American history, most recently to intern Japanese-American citizens during World War II.
Last week, District Court Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney temporarily blocked the deportations following a request by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of two Venezuelan men being held in Aurora, who feared they would be falsely accused of belonging to the gang Tren de Aragua. Trump has contended the gang is invading the United States, but his critics have said he's using the gang as the pretext for an overhyped anti-migrant narrative.
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According to Tim Macdonald, legal director of the ACLU of Colorado, at least 11 ICE detainees at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing center in Aurora have already been sent to the mega-prison in El Salvador.
During a hearing Monday, Macdonald asked the court to certify the lawsuit as a class action so that it would cover many other in-custody immigrants and protect them from being deported without proper legal proceedings.
"They tried to remove people with hours' notice and ship them out before a court could question that," Macdonald said. "They're trying to use [the AEA] in a way that is unconstitutional and illegal."
According to Macdonald, there are currently around 100 people at the Aurora ICE center who are at risk of potentially being sent to El Salvador.
Pablo Acosta, an immigrant from Honduras, said he's worried for his wife, who has been in ICE custody in Aurora for the past several months.
“That’s what we’re afraid of, that she will get deported and sent to El Salvador and that our family won’t ever hear from her again," Acosta said, in Spanish, “We are very scared with what’s happening, that they’re just sending anyone to El Salvador."
During Monday's hearing, the government's attorney, Michael Velchek, argued that the two plaintiffs in this case are currently not detained under AEA and said there is no plan by the agency to remove them under the act. Velchek added that he believes the court does not have jurisdiction in the case under the theory that the two men might be detained under the act in the future.
During a recent interview, Trump's "border czar" and former acting director for ICE, Tom Homan, said immigrants who are removed under the Alien Enemies Act have "less due process" but argued that the Trump administration is "following the laws of the Constitution."
"I'm not a constitutional scholar. I'm not going to argue this in court — that's what the Department of Justice does. But I'm sitting here today [and] think we've done the right thing for this nation," he said.
Macdonald said the ACLU will continue to fight to protect the civil rights and liberties of all people in this country.
"If they can do it to Venezuelans, they can do it to American citizens," he said.
Denver7 reached out to the Department of Justice and ICE about this case. Both declined to comment.
Judge Sweeney heard arguments in the case on Monday morning and said she would issue a ruling within the next 24 hours.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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