The Trump administration mentioned on Monday that it deliberate to extradite a handful of Venezuelan males to Chile after declaring them topic to the Alien Enemies Act, a wartime legislation whose novel use is the topic of a pitched court docket battle.
In a press release, Justice Division officers mentioned three males had been declared “alien enemies” and could be despatched to Chile to face felony prices there. The boys are Venezuelan residents, although one can also be a citizen of Ecuador and one other a citizen of Colombia.
Extradition is a long-established, continuously used technique of sending accused criminals to face prices in a foreign country. By citing the Alien Enemies Act, the Trump administration appears to be highlighting its aggressive posture on the contested authorized challenge with out taking steps that may be deemed to violate a short lived restraining order issued by a federal choose.
As a result of the boys are being extradited to face prices abroad, their instances are completely different from the hurried deportations of greater than 100 Venezuelans this month and would be the subject of a federal appeals court hearing Monday afternoon.
Within the announcement on Monday, the administration once more criticized the choose who issued that order, James E. Boasberg. “We’d have already eliminated these violent gang members to Chile to face justice had been it not for the nationwide injunction imposed by a single choose,” mentioned Todd Blanche, the deputy lawyer common. He added, “We hope frequent sense and justice will prevail.”
The extradition announcement comes as courts are wrestling with President Trump’s invocation of the legislation this month to ship greater than 100 Venezuelans to a large jail complicated in El Salvador. Civil rights teams have challenged the deportations, saying the boys didn’t obtain due course of, and contest the accusation that they’re members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
In invoking the 1798 legislation meant to expel invaders, the Trump administration has argued that the gang acts in coordination with Venezuela’s ruling occasion and is subsequently topic to abstract arrest and deportation. Civil rights teams have argued in court docket that the administration is misusing the legislation and violating immigrants’ rights.
The Justice Division mentioned one of many males was at the moment in a Texas jail and wished in Chile for extortion, kidnapping leading to murder and felony affiliation. The opposite two males, who’re wished on kidnapping prices, had been in U.S. custody, officers mentioned.
