J.G.G. v. Trump

J.G.G. v. Donald J. Trump is the name of a class action and habeas corpus lawsuit by five Venezuelan men in immigration custody, threatened with imminent removal under the expected proclamation of US president Donald Trump invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 (AEA).

The suit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Democracy Forward on March 15, 2025. The same day, Trump announced that the Venezuelan criminal gang Tren de Aragua was conducting "irregular warfare" against the United States and that members in the United States would be deported under the AEA. The Trump administration quickly began the process of deporting Venezuelans allegedly affiliated with this gang on flights to El Salvador.

While the deportation flights were en route, James Boasberg, chief judge of the US District Court for the District of Columbia was assigned to the case. He issued an order certifying Venezuelan migrants in the US as members of a class and temporarily enjoining their removal from the US. Although Boasberg specifically ordered that any planes in the air carrying those covered by his order be turned back and those individuals returned to the US, the Trump administration allowed the flights to proceed, potentially violating the court order. Over 260 men were flown to El Salvador, including 137 Venezuelans deported under the AEA. The deportees were taken into custody and sent to the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT). The Trump administration subsequently argued in court that the order did not apply because the flights were over international waters. Critics of the government alleged it was improperly using a wartime authority to carry out its immigration policies without due process. The Trump administration appealed the temporary restraining order to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, and after that court denied the appeal, the administration filed an emergency appeal with the US Supreme Court, which vacated Boasberg's temporary restraining order and ruled that any challenges to removal under the AEA must be brought as a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, which requires that the petition be filed in the district where a petitioner is detained, and that intended deportees must be given sufficient time to petition for a writ.

The ACLU then started filing cases in various districts where Venezuelans were in immigration detention and at risk of being deported under the AEA. However, some legal issues remained in Boasberg's court, and on April 16, he ruled that there was probable cause to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt of court for not having turned the planes around after his March 15 order. The DOJ appealed the ruling to the court of appeals.

After the Supreme Court ruling, the ACLU and Democracy Forward also amended their complaint, asking Boasberg to certify two classes, one of Venezuelans sent to CECOT under the AEA, and another of Venezuelans currently imprisoned in the US and alleged to be members of Tren de Aragua. On June 4, Boasberg certified the first class, concluding that they had been deprived of their right to due process and ordering the Trump administration to enable them to bring habeas corpus challenges to their removal. The DOJ again appealed the ruling to the court of appeals.