Headline Roundup • May 14th, 2025
Federal Judge in PA Says Trump Can Use Alien Enemies Act for Deportations
Summary from the AllSides News Team
A federal judge in Pennsylvania said President Donald Trump can use the Alien Enemies Act for deportations.
The Details: Judge Stephanie Haines, who was appointed by Trump, is allowing the Trump administration to invoke the Alien Enemies Act but said that it must give adequate prior notice to those subject to removal. Haines criticized deportations that happen "within a matter of hours" and called for due process in her 43-page ruling.
Key Quote: Haines wrote, “Having done its job, the Court now leaves it to the Political Branches of the government, and ultimately to the people who elect those individuals, to decide whether the laws and those executing them continue to reflect their will."
For Context: While favorable to the Trump administration, the ruling doesn’t address whether Trump can remove people under other immigration laws, nor does it address whether the Alien Enemies Act can be used to deport unauthorized immigrants who aren’t members of a foreign terrorist organization.
How the Media Covered It: Fox News (Right bias) framed the decision by Haines as "upholding" Trump's "authority" to use the law in this manner ,while other news sources implied Trump may not have the authority to do so. Reuters (Center) noted that federal judges in Texas, Colorado, and New York have ruled against Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans. Meanwhile, the Washington Post (Lean Left) noted that the decision by Judge Haines created a split among federal courts that may need to be resolved by Supreme Court intervention.
Written by the AllSides staff (of humans). Learn more. Suggest an improvement to this summary.
Featured Coverage of this Story
El Salvador Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images
A federal judge on Tuesday said the Trump administration can invoke the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) to deport criminal illegal immigrant members of the Venezuelan Tren De Aragua gang, but that it has not given adequate prior notice to those subject to removal, before those deportations can take place, which would allow possible due process and habeas legal challenges.
The 43-page ruling by U.S. District Judge Stephanie Haines, a Trump appointee, conflicts with other rulings challenging the administration's deportation efforts.
"Having done its job, the Court now leaves it to the Political...
A federal judge in Pennsylvania on Tuesday became the first in the nation to allow President Donald Trump’s invocation of a wartime law to fast-track deportations of accused Venezuelan gang members.
But U.S. District Judge Stephanie L. Haines described the administration’s process for carrying out those removals as “constitutionally deficient” and ordered the government to give targeted migrants at least 21 days’ notice and an opportunity to challenge their deportations in court.
The ruling from Haines — whom Trump appointed during his first term in the White House — breaks...
A federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled on Tuesday that the United States can use the Alien Enemies Act to fast-track the deportation of accused Venezuelan gang members, in what appears to be the first court ruling that backs the Trump administration’s interpretation of the 1798 law.
Judge Stephanie Haines, of the U.S. District for the Western District of Pennsylvania, ruled that President Donald Trump has authority to declare the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua a foreign terrorist organization and deport its members under the Alien Enemies Act, but she criticized the administration's...
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