Fifth Circuit Says There Is No Case Left
A federal appeals court on Thursday handed President Trump a major legal win in a key Alien Enemies Act fight. The en banc Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, meaning the court’s full slate of judges, ruled that the lawsuit is now moot because the three men who brought the case have already been deported. The judges wrote that the Supreme Court sent the case back while the three named petitioners were still in the country, but the court later learned the government had removed them. With no named petitioners left and no class action in the case, the court said there was no relief it could grant. In plain English, the court found there was no live case left to decide, which is the kind of legal technicality Democrats only seem to enjoy when it helps them.
Judges Dismissed the Appeal for Lack of Jurisdiction
The Fifth Circuit’s language was direct. The judges wrote, “Given the lack of any named petitioners to whom we could grant relief in this appeal, and given that this case has never and does not now feature any class, we conclude that the appeal is moot. We therefore DISMISS the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.” That is not a ruling blessing every future move under the Alien Enemies Act, but it does remove this particular challenge from the board. For Trump’s team, that matters. Immigration enforcement battles often get bogged down in courtroom traffic jams, with one judge after another trying to steer national policy from the bench. Here, the full Fifth Circuit said this appeal could not continue because the parties seeking relief were no longer present.
Judge Ho Backs Trump’s Use of the Alien Enemies Act
Judge James Ho, who was appointed by Trump, wrote a sharp concurring opinion backing the president’s use of the Alien Enemies Act. Trump invoked the law last year to deport dangerous Venezuelan gang members, including members tied to Tren de Aragua, according to the case background. The Alien Enemies Act has become a central legal battleground in the administration’s push to remove foreign gang threats. Supporters see it as a necessary tool when public safety is on the line. Critics have tried to block its use through the courts. Judge Ho’s concurrence gives the administration a strong voice on the appellate court, even though the case itself was dismissed as moot rather than decided on the full merits.
Supreme Court Notice Ruling Still Looms Over the Fight
The Supreme Court previously stepped in and temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deporting Venezuelan gang members under the Alien Enemies Act. In an unsigned order, the high court said the Trump Justice Department had not given the Venezuelans enough time to challenge their removals. The Court wrote that notice roughly 24 hours before removal, without information on how to exercise due process rights, “surely does not pass muster.” The Supreme Court then sent the case back to the Fifth Circuit. Before this latest full-court ruling, a three-judge Fifth Circuit panel had voted against Trump’s invocation of the law, while several district court judges also ruled against him. A federal judge in Pennsylvania, however, became the first to say Trump could invoke the Alien Enemies Act to deport Tren de Aragua gang members.
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