REPORT: Judges in New York, Texas block deportations of Venezuelan illegal aliens

April 10, 2025

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From CBS News: Federal judges in both New York and Texas have blocked the deportations of Venezuelan men likely to be deported under the Trump administration’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act, again stopping the White House’s attempts to remove alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang after the Supreme Court cleared the way for their deportations this week.

In one case filed in Manhattan, attorneys for two Venezuelan men who are currently being detained in Orange County, New York, successfully argued to block their clients’ deportations and movement outside of the state and the United States. U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, appointed to the federal bench by President Clinton, granted the temporary relief.

After their arrests, both men were first transferred to an ICE detention center in Texas before being moved to New York. One man, who is 21, came to the U.S. to escape Tren de Aragua violence, and the other, who is 32, actively protested the regime of Venezuelan dictator Nicholas Maduro, their attorneys wrote.

The new case in Texas was brought on behalf of the same Venezuelans who challenged their potential deportation in Washington, D.C., where the initial block of the deportations was entered by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg before it was lifted by the Supreme Court on Monday in a 5-4 decision. The Texas judge overseeing the petition, Fernando Rodriguez Jr., was appointed to the federal bench by President Trump during his first term.

In a brief order shortly after the habeas petition was filed, Rodriguez blocked the Trump administration from transferring or removing from the El Valle Detention Center the three Venezuelan men or any other Venezuelan citizen held in the Southern District of Texas who are subject to deportation under Mr. Trump’s proclamation.