Federal agents raided a Chicago apartment building and detained 37 immigrants, most of them Venezuelans, in a highly publicized operation that was presented as a victory against terrorism, but no evidence has been found to support the government’s claims.
Attorney Raphael Goldman has raised constitutional concerns about President Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan nationals and detain them in El Salvador, arguing that the government cannot impose criminal punishment without due process and congressional authorization.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Trump Administration cannot deport Venezuelan detainees accused of being members of a gang using the wartime law, and referred the case back to a lower federal appeals court to determine if the migrants can be legally deported.
The U.S. government is using tattoos and clothing to determine who gets to stay in the country and who is subject to indefinite imprisonment in a Salvadoran prison, with many of the men deported being innocent migrants who followed all necessary procedures when seeking asylum.
The Trump administration’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans based on a fabricated threat of Venezuelan government involvement in the Tren de Aragua criminal organization has been exposed by a declassified intelligence memo, raising concerns about the misuse of executive power and the erosion of democratic guardrails.