ACLU urges judge to order return of deported Venezuelans, challenges Trump’s use of wartime law

Record ID: 1984507

  • Title: ACLU urges judge to order return of deported Venezuelans, challenges Trump’s use of wartime law
  • Date: 17th March 2025
  • Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (MARCH 17, 2025) (REUTERS) ACLU LAWYERS APPROACHING LECTERN (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACLU ATTORNEY, LEE GELERNT, SAYING: “We just had a hearing before Judge Boasberg. And our position is even more clear at this point. We had serious concerns going into the day that the government violated a federal court order. Today, did nothing to dispel it.
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Donald Trump El Salvador Venezuela crime deportations justice
  • Location: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
  • City: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
  • Country: US
  • Topics: Fundamental Rights/Civil Liberties,North America,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001955117032025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) pressed a federal judge on Monday (March 17) to compel the U.S. government to retrieve Venezuelan nationals deported under the Trump administration’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, arguing that the administration may have knowingly violated a federal court order.
    Speaking outside the courthouse, ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt said that after a hearing before U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, the group remained convinced that the government had acted unlawfully. "We had serious concerns going into the day that the government violated a federal court order. Today did nothing to dispel it. If anything, it reinforced our view that the government may very well have violated this order, perhaps even knowingly," Gelernt said.
    The ACLU intends to ask the judge to order the U.S. government to secure the return of the deported Venezuelans, who were sent to detention facilities in El Salvador and Honduras despite Boasberg’s emergency order to halt the deportations. Gelernt acknowledged the legal complexity of forcing a foreign government to act but argued that the U.S. effectively retains control over the deportees. "This essentially is like El Salvador acting like a private prison, holding these individuals. And it appears that the U.S. is paying for it. So the U.S. essentially has constructive custody over these individuals," he said, adding that the government has the leverage to bring them back.
    (Production: Brad Ulery, Jose Pablo Diaz)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register