Latest news with #LauraLunn
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Undocumented immigrants ask for temporary halt of Alien Enemies Act in Colorado
DENVER (KDVR) — Attorneys for two groups filed a request in federal court on Monday for a temporary restraining order on the Alien Enemies Act. The organizations told FOX31 it is trying to prevent undocumented immigrants wrongfully accused of crimes from being illegally deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador. Nearly a dozen undocumented immigrants from Colorado have been sent to CECOT in El Salvador, according to the Rocky Mountain Immigration Action Network. Location unknown: 18th District Attorney, ICE spar over undocumented suspect The 25- and 32-year-old men are being held at the contract Immigration and Customs Enforcement Detention Facility in Aurora. 'They have been working, living with their families and doing all the right things. All of a sudden, because they have a tattoo, or because they were hanging out with friends at a certain apartment complex, the government is now alleging that they are members of a gang,' said Rocky Mountain Immigration Action Network Director of Advocacy Laura Lunn. Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union and the Rocky Mountain Immigration Action Network are representing the two men named in the suit. The organizations say more immigrants from Colorado are falsely being accused of being Tren de Aragua gang members. The advocacy network says it believes at least 11 undocumented immigrants were flown to prisons in El Salvador in March. The ACLU says it's hoping the temporary restraining order will stop that from happening again. 'So, what we are trying to do is make sure that the federal government follows the constitution, follows the law and doesn't deprive people of their liberty or perhaps their life without an opportunity to challenge the allegations,' said ACLU Legal Director Tim Macdonald. ICE says driver sentenced in deadly 2024 US 285 crash has been deported FOX31 has asked ICE Denver if any undocumented immigrants have been deported using the Alien Enemies Act. We have not received an answer. The ACLU says that while two men are named in the suit, the judge's order would have an impact on any other similar cases here in Colorado. A decision is expected Tuesday morning. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
21-04-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Trump's Alien Enemies Act deportations face legal test in Colorado federal court
A showdown in federal court in Denver could help shape the legal landscape surrounding deportations. The U.S. Supreme Court issued a rare weekend ruling temporarily halting the Trump administration's plan to deport more Venezuelan migrants under a seldom-used wartime law, the Alien Enemies Act. The decision came as mass protests continued across the country denouncing the Trump administration's immigration policies. The administration is urging the court to reconsider its decision blocking the deportations. The president has invoked the Alien Enemies Act , a centuries-old law allowing the executive branch to detain or deport noncitizens deemed dangerous. Last month, the administration used the law to send more than 200 migrants to a prison in El Salvador . Now, El Salvador's president has proposed exchanging the deported migrants for political prisoners held in Venezuela. In Denver, a federal court recently barred the removal of any noncitizens within Colorado who are or will be subject to the Alien Enemies Act. Some of those previously deported from Colorado have already been sent to the El Salvador prison, according to their attorneys. At issue is what kind of legal rights migrants have to challenge the government's allegations before they are removed from the U.S. Mr. Trump has said the United States is facing an "invasion" by the Tren de Aragua gang and that he has the authority to use the 1798 law. The act was last invoked during World War II, including in Colorado, to hold Japanese Americans at internment camps, including Camp Amache . "If you think of internment camps during World War II in the United States, that's the kind of framework that we're looking at in terms of how this law has been used in the past," Laura Lunn, an immigrant advocacy lawyer with the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, said. The legal battle has triggered a series of emergency filings over the weekend after the Supreme Court bumped a case out of U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C., saying it needed to be filed in Texas and other states from which people are being deported. A high-stakes hearing in Denver concluded Monday morning. U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney said she wouldn't rule on the case for 24 hours but during that hearing, attorneys for the ACLU and Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network said 11 people have been deported from Colorado to El Salvador and that about 85% of people being held in the Aurora ICE Processing Center have not yet been able to retain legal counsel, which those groups argue is a violation of their due process rights.
