President Donald Trump recently invoked a centuries-old law to justify the deportations of hundreds of Venezuelan immigrants to a maximum security mega-prison in El Salvador without due process. But one former federal prosecutor now believes Trump may have backed himself into a legal corner.
During a Friday night segment on CNN, host Kaitlan Collins recalled how Trump said earlier in the day that he didn't sign a proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 (which hasn't been used since World War II) to deport alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang, even though he stood by the decision to remove them from the United States. The president also said that "other people handled it," mentioning Secretary of State Marco Rubio without prompting by assembled reporters. Trump made the remark in response to a reporter asking him for a response to U.S. District Judge James Boasberg accusing the administration of signing the proclamation "in the dark of night" to rush the deportation flights to El Salvador.
Collins pointed out that despite Trump's statement, his highly recognizable signature is on the document. Now, the administration is claiming that Trump was referring to the 1798 law (which was signed into law by 2nd U.S. President John Adams), and that he did in fact put his signature on the proclamation in question.
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“President Trump was obviously referring to the original Alien Enemies Act that was signed back in 1798,” read a statement from the White House. “The recent Executive Order was personally signed by President Trump invoking the Alien Enemies Act that designated Tren de Aragua as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in order to apprehend and deport these heinous criminals.”
CNN legal analyst Elie Honig — a former assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York — didn't buy the White House's explanation. He explained that if "other people handled" the proclamation, as Trump mentioned, then it could potentially lead to Judge Boasberg automatically striking down the proclamation itself.
"If that's true, if Donald Trump did not actually sign that proclamation, it's a big problem because the law specifically requires a proclamation by the president," Honig said. "The law says that there has to be, the president has to make a public proclamation of the event. So if he was telling the truth, if in fact, he did not sign this thing, everything that followed, the deportation of these individuals, was all illegal, was all null and void. That's why they're trying to walk it back with this ridiculous attempt to walk the tightrope."
Boasberg has given the administration until Tuesday to explain why the deportation flights were still carried out despite his order demanding the planes be turned around until the issue of the Alien Enemies Act could be litigated. He has also not ruled out contempt proceedings for the administration if he rules that the White House deliberately ignored his order. Trump has called for the George W. Bush-appointed jurist to be impeached.
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Watch the video of Honig's comments below, or by clicking this link.