Judge bars removal of migrants in Colorado under Alien Enemies Act
removal of migrants
from the district of Colorado under the Alien Enemies Act.
Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union and the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network argued during a hearing on Monday that two men from Venezuela were in imminent danger of being deported to a prison in El Salvador. Further, the lawyers for the migrants said that 11 men from Colorado have already been sent to El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT — among the hundreds of migrants sent to the supermax prison by the Trump administration.
"We are thankful that the Court put a stop to the Trump administration's unlawful attempt to disappear Colorado residents to a Salvadoran mega-prison," said Tim Macdonald, ACLU of Colorado Legal Director. "Due process is fundamental to the rule of law in this country, and the government has shown a rampant disregard for this essential civil right. The Trump administration's desire to evade due process is a threat to all of us. We will continue to fight to permanently stop the government from disappearing people to foreign prisons without due process and in violation of the law. Not one more person should face this nightmare scenario."
CBS News Colorado has reached out to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for comment.
The terms of the Colorado restraining order expire on May 6.
In a ruling on April 7, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered that "AEA detainees must receive notice... that they are subject to removal under the Act. The notice must be afforded within a reasonable time and in such a manner as will allow them to actually seek habeas relief in proper venue before such removal occurs."
The high court's order did not indicate the terms of "reasonable" notice, so it was debated in court on Monday.
In her order, Judge Charlotte Sweeney wrote that individuals subject to deportation under the AEA must receive 21 days' notice, be informed of the right to judicial review, and consult with an attorney. Such notice must also be written in a language the individual understands.
In March, President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, allowing the executive branch to detain or deport noncitizens it deems "dangerous," particularly those administration officials allege are part of the Venezuelan gang
Tren de Aragua
. Last month, the administration used the law to send more than 200 people to a
prison in El Salvador
.
The last time the Act was invoked was during World War II, when Japanese Americans were interned at Camp Amache in Colorado.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Newsweek
14 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Anti-Trump Protest Held in President's Florida Stronghold
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. An anti-President Donald Trump protest is being planned for Thursday in a traditionally Republican stronghold. The protest is being held in The Villages, a sprawling retirement community of more than 150,000 residents across three Central Florida counties with a largely GOP-voting population of retirees, per Gulf Live. It is part of nationwide Good Trouble Lives On protests on Thursday, the anniversary of the death of civil rights leader and former Representative John Lewis, known for his slogan of making "Good Trouble." John Lewis addresses a crowd at a rally protesting the National Rifle Association's annual convention a few blocks away in Atlanta, April 29, 2017. John Lewis addresses a crowd at a rally protesting the National Rifle Association's annual convention a few blocks away in Atlanta, April 29, 2017. David Goldman, file/AP Photo Why It Matters The state of Florida voted 56.1 percent for Trump in 2024, and the three Central Florida counties which hold The Villages, Marion, Sumter and Lake, voted above the state average, at 65.5 percent, 68.3 percent, and 61.8 percent respectively, in favor of Trump. This protest in a pro-Trump stronghold comes as the president is suffering in the polls, over the White House's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, which is also rattling a segment of his own supporters. What To Know More than 1,600 Good Trouble Lives On protests are being held across the country, including in states that voted for Trump in 2024 such as Arizona, Arkansas, South Carolina and Florida. Katherine Garcia, press officer for Public Citizen, a group involved with Good Trouble Lives On spoke to Newsweek about why protests are being held in The Villages, saying: "The Trump Administration's attacks on the American people's civil rights, Medicaid, SNAP, Social Security and other health programs, reproductive rights, due process, and more impacts all Americans. The bounds of these impacts are not defined by state lines or party affiliations." The organizing site for the protest in The Villages says: "This is more than a protest; it's a moral reckoning. A continuation of the movement Lewis helped lead, and a new front in the struggle for freedom." This is not the first anti-Trump protest in The Villages. Some Villages residents also organized one of the No Kings Day protests held on June 14. The No Kings protests were the largest nationwide demonstration against the president, and coincided with a miltary parade that was held in Washington, D.C, as well as Trump's birthday. This is the fifth-annual Good Trouble Lives On protest following Lewis' death on July 17, 2020. Lewis participated in the first lunch counter sit-ins in the 1960s, was a Freedom Rider in Montgomery, Alabama, and was a speaker at the March on Washington in 1963. In 1987, he became a member of Congress, representing Georgia's 5th district until he passed away. Good Trouble Lives On organizers told Newsweek via a press release: "In memory of John Lewis, we will take to the streets, courthouses and community spaces to carry forward his fight for justice, voting rights and dignity for all." Garcia told Newsweek: "As of this morning, July 17, more than 1,600 events have been confirmed, 184,000 have RSVP'd to attend Good Trouble Lives On, and we expect at least several hundred thousand people will attend across the country." Good Trouble Lives On protest locations across the U.S. Good Trouble Lives On protest locations across the U.S. What People Are Saying Congressman John Lewis: "Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America." Katherine Garcia, press officer for Public Citizen, a group involved with Good Trouble Lives On, told Newsweek: "Good Trouble" is the act of coming together to take peaceful, non-violent action to challenge injustice and create meaningful change. We're encouraging communities to come together to march, protest and engage in service work – any action where we can take a stand against wrongdoings, and speak truth to power. Though Good Trouble has been hosted every year since Congressman Lewis' passing in 2020, this year's event is especially important as it comes at a critical time to protect civil rights across the nation." Liz Huston, White House spokesperson told Newsweek: "Nearly 80 million Americans gave President Trump a historic mandate to Make America Great Again and he is delivering on that promise in record time." What Happens Next Garcia told Newsweek: "Many of our organizers are also partnering upcoming actions on Labor Day, which will continue the mobilization of the American people and propel the demands of Good Trouble further to stop the billionaire takeover and rampant corruption of the Trump administration, protect social programs for working people, and stop attacks on immigrants, Black, indigenous, trans people and all our communities."
Boston Globe
16 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Months after widespread cuts, some AmeriCorps programs receive sudden notice of reinstatement
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up A request for comment to the AmeriCorps press office was not returned. Much of the national program office staff was also put on indefinite leave in April. The Office of Management and Budget also did not respond to a request for comment on the reversal or future funding. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Advertisement Though court orders previously had already mandated that some programs be restored, those rulings were limited to the group of Democratic-led states and coalition of third-party organizations, including the employee union, that sued. The notifications that came this week extended the possibility of restored funding to programs in Republican-led states that had not joined the litigation. Advertisement It is unclear how the reinstatement, which applies to programs already funded under the fiscal year 2024 federal budget, will proceed. Some programs were able to tap other funding to extend the service members and their projects until the end of their contracts. Others had to make layoffs and shutter activities that could be difficult to reverse. Not all terminated programs had received the reinstatement notice by Thursday. And AmeriCorps organizations and commissions had already been warning that the Trump administration was withholding approved funding for the next fiscal year, as well, imperiling their ability to continue projects into the next term. But one program that did receive word they could reopen their funding was the Lakes Region Conservation Corps, operated by the Squam Lakes Association in Holderness, N.H., and other local conservation partners. The organization had 15 full-time and 12 part-time service members that have provided environmental education to 3,000 people, maintained over 100 acres of trails and has been heavily involved in removing invasive species like Milfoil from the lake to maintain it as an outdoor attraction. In April, they received their notice of termination and then watched as regional peers came back online without them in June after the court granted Democratic states' request to have funding restored. Until now, the Squam Lakes Association had been able to tap into its reserves to maintain its current corps, but the long-term stability of the program and its reach was in doubt, its executive director EB James said in an interview earlier this month. He warned that cuts would affect not just the service-members and his organization, but the health of the lake, regional ecosystem, and entire local economy built on tourism and desirable property. They had not yet received clarity on if they would get their funding under the fiscal year 2025 budget, which in normal years would be resolved by now. Advertisement 'Like everyone, it's thrown us into disarray,' James said earlier this month. 'This was a small program that had a really really large impact, but even though it was small, it meant a lot to us and it meant a lot to our constituents.' The April cuts spurred by the then-Elon Musk led Department of Government Efficiency shut down numerous AmeriCorps programs, immediately ending the small stipends of service members who worked in classrooms, workforce development, and health resources. The terminations did not seem to follow any pattern, and some of the programs who had been cut were then awarded funding for next year. Some The New Hampshire state AmeriCorps office, Volunteer NH, declined to comment about the possibility of restored funding. But executive director Gretchen Stallings said the situation for programs in the state was still tenuous given the confusion about future funding. 'Right now, we're still navigating a lot of uncertainty around FY25 and FY26 funding. While two NH programs were selected for competitive AmeriCorps grants, none of the funds have been released yet—not for those programs, and not for the operational support we rely on to run AmeriCorps effectively in the state," Stallings said in a statement. 'That delay is having a real impact. Programs are having to make tough decisions—scaling back, pausing operations, or bracing for shutdowns—while we wait for clarity." Advertisement Tal Kopan can be reached at
Los Angeles Times
16 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Urban League declares a ‘state of emergency' for civil rights in the U.S. in response to Trump
WASHINGTON — One of the nation's oldest civil rights organizations on Thursday declared a 'state of emergency' for antidiscrimination policies, personal freedoms and Black economic advancement in response to President Trump 's upending of civil rights precedents and the federal agencies traditionally tasked with enforcing them. The National Urban League's annual State of Black America report accuses the federal government of being 'increasingly determined to sacrifice its founding principles' and 'threatening to impose a uniform education system and a homogenous workforce that sidelines anyone who doesn't fit a narrow, exclusionary mold,' according to a copy obtained by the Associated Press. 'If left unchecked,' the authors write, 'they risk reversing decades of progress that have made America more dynamic, competitive, and just.' The report, to be released Thursday at the group's conference in Cleveland, Ohio, criticizes the administration for downsizing federal agencies and programs that enforce civil rights policies. The authors aimed to highlight what they saw as a multiyear, coordinated effort by conservative legal activists, lawmakers and media personalities to undermine civil rights policy and create a political landscape that would enable a hard-right agenda on a range of social and economic policy. 'It is not random. It is a well-funded, well-organized, well-orchestrated movement of many, many years,' said Marc Morial, president of the Urban League. 'For a long time, people saw white supremacist politics and white nationalism as on the fringe of American politics. It has now become the mainstream of the American right, whose central foundation is within the Republican Party.' The report directly critiques Project 2025, a sweeping blueprint for conservative governance coordinated by The Heritage Foundation think tank. Project 2025 advised approaches to federal worker layoffs, immigration enforcement and the congressional and legislative branches similar to the Trump administration's current strategy. The Urban League report condemns major corporations, universities and top law firms for reversing diversity, equity and inclusion policies. It also criticizes social media companies like Meta and X for purported 'censorship' of Black activists and creatives and content moderation policies that allegedly enabled 'extremists' to spread 'radicalizing' views. The Trump administration has said many policies implemented by both Democratic and Republican administrations are discriminatory and unconstitutional, arguing that acknowledgments of race and federal and corporate policies that seek to address disparities between different demographics are themselves discriminatory. Trump has signed executive orders banning 'illegal discrimination' and promoting 'merit based opportunity.' Harrison Fields, a White House spokesman, said civil rights groups that oppose the administration 'aren't advancing anything but hate and division, while the president is focused on uniting our country.' The report, meanwhile, calls for the creation of a 'new resistance' to counter the administration's agenda. Morial urged other organizations to rally to that cause. The Urban League and other civil rights groups have repeatedly sued the Trump administration since January. Liberal legal groups and Democratic lawmakers similarly sued over parts of the administration's agenda. Veteran civil rights activists, Black civic leaders, former federal officials, Illinois Atty. Gen. Kwame Raoul and seven members of Congress, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, contributed to the text. Raoul said that civil rights allies have felt 'on the defense' in recent years but that now 'it's time to act affirmatively.' For instance, if rollbacks of DEI policies result in discrimination against women or people of color legal action could follow, he warned. 'It all depends on how they do it. We're going to be watching,' he said. 'And just because the Trump administration doesn't believe in disparate impact anymore doesn't mean the rest of the universe must believe that.' The report criticizes the Trump administration's efforts to shutter the Education Department, and denounces changes to programs meant to support communities of color at the departments of Commerce, Health and Human Services and Housing and Urban Development, among others. The transformation of the Justice Department's civil rights division was singled out as 'an existential threat to civil rights enforcement.' The Justice Department pointed to its published civil rights policy and a social media post from its civil rights arm that reads the division 'has returned to enforcing the law as written: fairly, equally, and without political agenda.' Nevada Rep. Steve Horsford, a contributor to the report, said Trump 'betrayed the American people' in enacting plans he said were similar to Project 2025. Another contributor, Rep. Yvette Clarke, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, said civil rights advocates and their Democratic allies must do more to communicate with and educate people. 'When you have an administration that's willing to take civil rights gains and call it reverse racism, then there's a lot of work to be done to unpack that for folks,' the New York Democrat said. 'I think once people understand their connection to civil rights gains, then we will be in a position to build that momentum.' The Urban League originally planned to focus its report on the legacy of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 for the law's 60th anniversary but pivoted after Trump returned to office to focus on 'unpacking the threats to our democracy' and steps civil rights advocates are taking to pull the country back from 'the brink of a dangerous tilt towards authoritarianism.' For many veteran civil rights activists, the administration's changes are condemnable but not surprising. Some lawmakers see it as a duty to continue the long struggle for civil rights. 'I think it's all part of the same struggle,' said Rep. Shomari Figures, an Alabama Democrat who contributed to the report and whose father was successfully brought a wrongful-death suit against a branch of the Ku Klux Klan. 'At the end of the day, that struggle boils down to: Can I be treated like everybody else in this country?' Brown writes for the Associated Press.
