Trump-appointed judge hands president a loss — but also a win

A California judge appointed by President Donald Trump ruled on Monday to block the administration from deporting a Venezuelan national under the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) — but not for the reason other judges have ruled in the past.

Politico legal reporter Kyle Cheney cited the judge on Bluesky, explaining that the administration hasn't provided adequate notice to Darwin Antonio Arvealo Millan or given him due process under the law.

The judge ruled that Trump has "virtually unreviewable authority to invoke the AEA," Cheney wrote, which makes it a win for Trump. What he took issue with was that the government didn't give Arevalo Millan, or any other migrant being targeted by the AEA, any advance opportunity to challenge the decisions in court.

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"In short, the AEA’s grant of authority to the President is close to 'unlimited,' ... and it includes the ability to decide whether an invasion or predatory incursion has occurred," the judge wrote. "As such, this Court cannot construe those terms without constraining the President’s authority under the AEA.

"In view of Congress’s decision to grant that authority to the President, that constraint is one that courts, which too 'often suffer the infirmity of confusing the issue of a power’s validity with the cause it is invoked to promote' and 'of confounding the permanent executive office with its temporary occupant,' must decline to impose. Court concludes that Arevalo is unlikely to succeed on the merits of his claim that the Proclamation is unlawful."

Read the full ruling here.