The D.C. Circuit heard arguments over whether 137 Venezuelan men sent to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act can individually contest alleged Tren de Aragua ties. The DOJ says courts lack jurisdiction to order remote hearings; the panel has not ruled.
The appeal challenges a district-court order directing the government to facilitate the return from third countries of deportees who want to come back while their habeas cases proceed. Judge James Boasberg also allowed deportees in third countries or Venezuela to submit challenges to their AEA designations and alleged gang membership; he did not order the government to bring back those remaining in Venezuela.
ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt argued that U.S. legal or shared custody of detainees abroad was enough to establish habeas jurisdiction, and said DHS already conducts remote hearings. DOJ lawyer Tiberius Davis argued that hearings across countries would be inequitable and courts lacked jurisdiction. Judge Neomi Rao questioned whether the U.S. could produce detainees on command.
