Nicolás Maduro is seen in handcuffs after landing at a Manhattan helipad, escorted by heavily armed federal agents as they make their way into an armored car en route to a federal courthouse in Manhattan on Jan. 5, 2026, in New York City. (XNY/Star Max/GC Images via Getty Images)
"These new developments underscore the Maduro Regime's control over TdA and TdA's violent invasion or predatory incursion on American soil. As a result, it is even clearer that the President's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act was part of a high-level national security mission that exists outside the realm of judicial interference."
Prior to the Trump administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act in March, the law had only been used three times in U.S. history – most recently, during World War II.
Lawyers for the Justice Department argued that Maduro, who was indicted on charges of narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, and weapons charges in the Southern District of New York, had worked with Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua to form what they argued was a "hybrid criminal state."
DEFIANT MADURO DECLARES HE IS A 'PRISONER OF WAR' IN FIRST US COURT APPEARANCE
As prisoners stand looking out from a cell, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a tour of the Terrorist Confinement Center (CECOT) on March 26, 2025, in Tecoluca, El Salvador. ((Photo by Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images))
"The government also fails to address why the Proclamation’s assertions are not fatally undermined by Maduro’s ouster given that the Proclamation specifically says that ‘Maduro’ and the ‘Maduro regime’ – not Venezuela as a ‘foreign nation’-direct TdA," lawyers for the ACLU added.
The filing also previews what is almost certain to be the Trump administration's arguments – as they continued to spar over the Alien Enemies Act removals in the U.S. District Court for D.C.
There, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in March had issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Trump administration from its use of the Alien Enemies Act to immediately deport 252 Venezuelan migrants and alleged gang members to CECOT. (The alleged gang member status of many of the individuals has been called into question.)
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Boasberg has since ordered the administration to facilitate due process for the CECOT plaintiffs who still wish to challenge their removal, as well as the ability to challenge their gang member designation.
Breanne Deppisch is a national politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the Trump administration, with a focus on the Justice Department, FBI and other national news. She previously covered national politics at the Washington Examiner and The Washington Post, with additional bylines in Politico Magazine, the Colorado Gazette and others. You can send tips to Breanne at Breanne.Deppisch@fox.com, or follow her on X at @breanne_dep.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-admin-says-maduro-capture-reinforces-alien-enemies-act-removals