A federal judge has allowed Venezuelans to target alien enemy deportation in the Southern District of Texas and advanced a class action lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration.
US District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr., appointed by Trump in his first term, issued a 12-page order on Thursday, granting a group of petitioners “class recognition.”
“The extraordinary circumstances of this case present a compelling justification for exploiting procedures equivalent to class action lawsuits approved in Rule 23,” writes Rodriguez.
The Trump administration argued that petitioners “have no basis” to establish a protected legal class to resolve whether aliens are appropriately included in the alien enemy category.
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On March 16, 2025, more than 250 gang members arrived in El Salvador after being deported by the Trump administration (President of El Salvador/handout/Anadoru via Getty Images)
The judge considered whether individual “habitation hearings” would be required for each Venezuelan citizen, based on the alien enemy laws of the Southern Texas district, to determine whether he is a member of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang designated as a foreign terrorist organization in March. “We need to request individual habeas and guardianship procedures to address common legal issues repeatedly,” Rodriguez said.
Trump issued the executive order for March 14th. “Tren de Aragua’s call to foreign enemy laws regarding US invasion.”
Rodriguez said about 100 people have been detained in the Southern Texas district and “designated as alien enemies under the declaration.”
“The current issue raises many general issues of the law, but it also raises some of the facts that a separate hearing would be required to be resolved,” Rodriguez wrote Thursday. “As for the former, the petitioner has challenged the legality of calling the AEA through the President’s declaration.
“Mainly they argue that there are no prerequisites necessary to apply the AEA, that the declaration and intended application of the AEA violates the due process rights of designated alien enemies under the constitution, and that the procedures that respondents are required to follow are in violation of the immigration and nationality laws and treaties against torture.
Over 250 gang members arrived in El Salvador on March 16, 2025 by plane. This includes 238 members of the Venezuela Trend Aragya Gang and 23 members of the ousted MS-13 Gang. (President of El Salvador/handouts/Anadoru via Getty Images)
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“These issues apply to individuals who respondents designate as alien enemies under the declaration and may be removed under the AEA,” the order said. “The positive outcomes for any of these legal theories about one individual certify equally true for other Venezuelan aliens designated as alien enemies under the declaration. As a result, the court finds that the petitioner has identified at least one claim at the centre of the validity of the claims of members of each class.”
The judge at the same time stated, “the petitioner cannot deny that a particular individual requires a fact-specific, individualized decision as to whether a particular individual is a member of the TDA.”
“It is true that the court must determine the applicable legal standards and this analysis applies to all classes of members. However, the hearing itself proceeds individually because the facts relating to each person are different,” he said.
According to Reuters, the Trump administration deported at least 137 Venezuelans from the Elvare detention center in Raymondville, Texas under alien enemy law on March 15, but relatives of dozens of men say they are not TDA members.
In another 36-page opinion, Rodriguez said Thursday that the Trump administration cannot rely on alien enemy laws to expel TDA members, as gang presence in the United States cannot be classified as “aggression” or “predatory invasion” under federal law.
Written by Rodriguez, who was appointed Trump in 2018, wrote Rodriguez. “The call to the president of the AEA by declaration is beyond the scope of the law and is contrary to the mediocre and normal meaning of the terms of the law.
Seventeen suspects of Venezuelan Trender Lagua Gang and MS-13 Gang members deported to El Salvador by March 31, 2025.
“The court concludes through the declaration that the president’s call to the AEA is beyond the scope of the law and, as a result, is illegal,” Rodriguez wrote.
In mid-April, Rodriguez granted a temporary restraining order held at the Raymondville Detention Center that prevented the Trump administration from eliminating Venezuelans. The judge later extended his sentence to protect all Venezuelans detained in his judicial districts, including the cities of Houston, Galveston, Laredo, McAllen, Brownsville, Corpus Christi and Victoria.
Rodriguez’s ruling is significant Thursday. Because it was the first formal permanent injunction against a government that used the AEA, claiming that the president is misusing the law. The Trump administration has argued that the TDA is acting at the Venezuelan government’s request.
“The declaration does not suggest that an organized group of armed individuals in the direction of Venezuela is envisaged to conquer the country or control part of the country,” Rodriguez wrote. “Therefore, the language of declaration cannot be read as an explanation of an act that falls under the meaning of “invasion” for the purposes of the AEA. ”
The judge also said that the provision was used only during the two World Wars and the war in 1812.
If the administration appeals, it will first be sent to the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. It is one of the most conservative courts of appeal in the country, and also opposes what they thought they’d seen about immigration issues by both the Obama and Biden administrations.
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The Supreme Court has already been heavily on issuing deportation under the AEA. The judge ruled that immigrants who were allegedly members of the gang must be given “reasonable time” to challenge removal from the state.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to the report.
Daniel Wallace is a news and political reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and to X:@danimwallace.
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