A U.S. appeals court judge said Monday that Nazis received better treatment than the Venezuelan nationals who were deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration last weekend during a hearing over President Donald Trump’s use of an 18th-century wartime authority to remove certain foreigners from U.S. soil.
The back-and-forth comes as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard arguments from the Trump administration in its emergency appeal of a lower court ruling, which temporarily blocked its use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to immediately deport Venezuelan nationals, including alleged members of the violent Tren de Aragua gang.
During the hearing Monday, Judge Patricia Millett grilled Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign over the timing of the deportations, which sent at least 261 migrants to El Salvador, including more than 100 Venezuelan nationals who were subject to removal “solely on the basis” of the law temporarily blocked by the court.
“The point here was that there were planeloads of people,” Millett told him. “There were no procedures in place to notify people.”
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President Donald Trump and U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg (Getty Images)
“Nazis got better treatment under the Alien Enemy Act than has happened here,” she said, noting, “They had hearing boards before people were removed.”
Millett pressed Ensign over whether the individuals deported under the law had any time to seek relief or challenge their status as a member of the gang in the form of a habeas petition before they were deported.
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Stills from the White House/CBP’s video showing deportations alongside White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt (Getty/White House)
The government’s position was not immediately clear, though Ensign noted they disagreed with the contention that Nazis got better treatment.
Congress passed the Alien Enemies Act immigration law in 1798, and it has since been used only several times in U.S. history, most recently during World War II.
Salvadoran police officers escort alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua recently deported by the U.S. government to be imprisoned in the Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador, March 16, 2025. (Secretaria de Prensa de la Presidencia/Handout via Reuters)
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It was not immediately clear when the appeals court plans to issue its ruling.
This is a breaking news story. Check back soon for updates.
