In a major shift that could impact future immigration and national security policy, a federal judge has backed the U.S. government’s use of a rarely cited wartime law to deport Venezuelan nationals tied to organized crime.
The decision, handed down by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, supports the use of the Alien Enemies Act—an 18th-century statute—to remove individuals linked to a violent Venezuelan gang recently labeled a hostile foreign organization by presidential order.
The government argued that the gang’s actions posed a serious threat to national security—comparable to a foreign invasion—and therefore justified using emergency powers to fast-track deportations.
The ruling follows months of legal wrangling and public scrutiny and could mark a new approach to handling members of transnational criminal networks operating on U.S. soil.
