OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
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The Justice Department asked a federal appeals court to lift a judge’s temporary block on President Donald Trump’s use of a broad wartime power to quickly deport people who are thought to be part of a Venezuelan gang.
The almost-hour-long hearing before the US DC Circuit Court of Appeals was the latest round in a nasty fight between the administration and the people who were targeted by a proclamation Trump signed earlier this month that used the Alien Enemies Act to quickly remove them from the US.
The three judges who are looking at the Trump administration’s request to delay two lower court orders aren’t sure what they will decide or when they will decide.
Two members of the panel—one liberal and one conservative—asked lawyers for both sides a lot of questions about important parts of the case. For example, they wanted to know if the people affected by Trump’s proclamation were missing any due process rights that would have given them a chance to defend themselves against claims that they are members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and where the right place is to make such complaints.
