DENVER | A federal judge in Denver has temporarily blocked deportations of immigrants in Aurora who face possible removal under President Donald Trump’s invocation of an 18th century law known as the Alien Enemies Act.
District Court Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney issued the emergency order Monday after the American Civil Liberties Union requested it on behalf of two Venezuelan men being held at the Aurora GEO ICE detention center 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.
Both of the men say they deny any link to gangs and fear being tortured in an El Salvadoran prison. ACLU attorneys content the Trump administration has no evidence of any gang affiliation.
One of Venezuelan men is 32 and referred to by attorneys in filings only as “D.B.U.”
He was detained at the Aurora GEO ICE detention center.
“D.B.U. fled Venezuela after he was persecuted and imprisoned for his political activity,” according to ACLU motions filed in the case.
He “was arrested during a high-profile raid of a party that was characterized in the media as a Tren de Aragua party,” attorneys said, referring to a Jan. 26 ICE raid in Adams County.
Federal agents interviewed DBU and accused him of being affiliated with the Tren de Aragua gang based on his tattoos.
“He has a single tattoo, his niece’s name, unrelated to Tren de Aragua,” attorneys wrote.
The man denies any affiliation with the gang.
“Because of his tattoos, and the public assertion that he is affiliated with Tren de Aragua, D.B.U. fears that he will be removed,” by the Trump administration.
The second Venezuelan man immigrant is dubbed “R.M.M.” by his attorneys.
He, too, is being held at the Aurora ICE detention center, according to court documents.
“ R.M.M. fled Venezuela after two members of his family were killed by Tren de Aragua” gang members, attorneys said.
Federal agents say RMM, too, is a TdA gang member, based on his tattoos.
“R.M.M. is not and has never been a member of Tren de Aragua,” his attorneys said. “R.M.M. has tattoos – his mother’s name, his birth year, a pattern, a religious symbol, and a character from board game (Monopoly), but they have nothing to do with Tren de Aragua” attorneys said.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE WRIT FILED BY THE ACLU
Sweeney’s order temporarily bars removal of all noncitizens who are currently in custody in the District of Colorado and who may be subject to removal under the Alien Enemies Act, which Trump invoked last month. The act has been used only three other times in American history, most recently to intern Japanese-American citizens during World War II.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that anyone being deported under the declaration deserved a hearing in federal court first.
That led federal judges in New York and Texas to place temporary holds on deportations in those areas until Trump’s Republican administration presents a procedure for allowing such appeals. Sweeney’s order follows in their footsteps.
Sweeney’s order is in effect for 14 days, and she has scheduled an April 21 hearing in the case.
Good thing he wasn’t wearing a Chicago Bulls cap. They’d have hanged him.