Judge Justin Walker dissented from the decision.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has denied President Donald Trump’s request to halt a lower court decision that blocked his proclamation applying the Alien Enemies Act to support deportations of suspected members of a Venezuelan gang.
Judges Karen Henderson and Patricia Millett opposed the administration’s request while Judge Justin Walker dissented.
In a concurrence, Henderson said that “the Executive’s burdens are comparatively modest compared to the plaintiffs’. Lifting the injunctions risks exiling plaintiffs to a land that is not their country of origin.”
Millett, meanwhile, praised the district court’s handling of the case and said “there is neither jurisdiction nor reason for this court to interfere at this very preliminary stage or to allow the government to singlehandedly moot the Plaintiffs’ claims by immediately removing them beyond the reach of their lawyers or the court.”
Walker’s dissent stated that “the government has … shown that the district court’s orders threaten irreparable harm to delicate negotiations with foreign powers on matters concerning national security.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
By Sam Dorman
