Appeals court dismisses Trump Alien Enemies Act case, leaving deportation powers unresolved

WASHINGTON, DC: A federal appeals court on Thursday, August 13, dismissed a major challenge to President Donald Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act to rapidly deport alleged Venezuelan gang members, avoiding a ruling on whether the president had the authority to invoke the centuries-old wartime law.

The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the case after the three men who brought the lawsuit were deported under other immigration authorities, leaving the broader legal questions unresolved.

Court dismisses Trump Alien Enemies Act case after plaintiffs were deported

The case stemmed from Trump’s March 2025 invocation of the Alien Enemies Act, a law enacted in 1798 that allows the government to remove nationals of a foreign country during an "invasion" or "predatory incursion." Trump used the authority to target Venezuelan men he alleged were members of Tren de Aragua, a criminal organization his administration characterized as a foreign enemy.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) challenged the deportations, prompting the Supreme Court in April 2025 to temporarily block removals without due process. The justices later sent the case back to the 5th Circuit to consider Trump's authority under the law.

A three-judge panel of the appeals court subsequently ruled against the administration, finding that Trump's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act was unlawful. The full 17-member court later agreed to reconsider the case. The panel's ruling was subsequently vacated when the full court granted an en banc rehearing.

The three plaintiffs were then deported under the Immigration and Nationality Act rather than the Alien Enemies Act. "The Supreme Court remanded this case to us when the three named petitioners were still in the country. But we have since learned that the government has removed them. Given this change, we conclude that the appeal is moot," the court wrote.

The judges also rejected an effort by lawyers for the plaintiffs and the government to substitute new plaintiffs so the broader legal questions could still be decided.

5th Circuit leaves Trump's deportation authority unresolved

The ruling left unresolved whether Trump could lawfully invoke the 1798 law to characterize alleged gang activity as an "invasion" or "predatory incursion." The ACLU said the Supreme Court's restrictions on deportations under the law without due process remain in place.

"The Supreme Court's injunction barring use of the Alien Enemies Act remains in place, which is essential because there are still people at risk of being wrongly removed under the act without due process," ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt said.

Two Trump-appointed judges, Andrew Oldham and James Ho, separately argued that the president's invocation of the law was lawful. Ho wrote, "And that's what the Government is asking us to do here, terminate the litigation now, by ruling on the merits as a matter of law."

The decision also leaves other challenges to Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act in place, including cases that had been awaiting the 5th Circuit's ruling. The dismissal could therefore delay, rather than resolve, a definitive ruling on the scope of the president's authority under the rarely used law.