The U.S. Supreme Court will likely overrule a federal judge's decision to block the Trump administration's deportation of alleged gang members under the Alien Enemies Act, former U.S. Attorney Joseph diGenova said Monday on Newsmax.
"The president wins because the conduct of foreign policy is squarely within the hands of the president of the United States," diGenova, a Newsmax contributor and former chief counsel for the Senate Rules Committee, told "The Chris Salcedo Show."
His comments come after U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, temporarily halted the administration's use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act on Saturday to deport hundreds of individuals alleged to be members of a Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, CBS News reported.
Ruling in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of five Venezuelans to block their deportation, Boasberg stated, "The United States is not at war, and the prerequisites for invocation of the Alien Enemies Act have not been met."
The law, originally passed in 1798, generally allows the president to detain or deport nationals of a country with which the U.S. is at war.
The White House, however, said that at least 261 people had already been deported under Trump's proclamation from the U.S. to El Salvador when the ruling was issued.
"Victoria is absolutely right," diGenova added, referring to his wife and legal partner, Victoria Toensing. "This is a place where federal judges should defer to the executive. They should not be involved in this decision-making. This judge is wrong. He's arrogant, and he's overplayed his hand. And he's going to be reversed by the Supreme Court."
The administration's deportation effort was announced Sunday by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who defended the use of the wartime law in an interview on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures," NBC News reported.
"The president invoked this authority to deport nearly 300 of them who are now in El Salvador, where they will be behind bars where they belong, rather than roaming freely in American communities," Leavitt said.
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Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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