A federal judge has temporarily halted the removal of a Venezuelan barber detained in Central Falls as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) seeks to completely block the Trump administration from using the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
Rhode Island U.S. District Court Judge Melissa DuBose on Monday ordered federal authorities to give the court 48 hours’ notice before moving the man, referred to as “G.M.G.” in court documents, out of the state.
The national ACLU and its Rhode Island chapter filed an emergency lawsuit to try to stop the Trump Administration and Wyatt Detention Facility from sending G.M.G. to El Salvador.
The Alien Enemies Act has only been used during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II. President Donald Trump invoked the 18th-century law in March in order to remove Venezuelans suspected of being in the transnational criminal organization Tren de Aragua.
ACLU of Rhode Island Executive Director Steven Brown did not immediately return a request for comment.
The lawsuit states G.M.G. entered the country with his fiancée and her son in 2023 after he was repeatedly detained and threatened by police in Venezuela due to “his perceived political opposition.” He has had a pending application for asylum since August 2024 and was scheduled for an immigration court hearing in Massachusetts on May 15.
G.M.G. was working in Rhode Island as a barber, according to court documents.
Despite his asylum claim, G.M.G was arrested and detained while he was at work on March 26, and has been held at the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls ever since, according to the lawsuit.
Attorneys claim he was wrongly detained by ICE for being associated with Tren de Aragua because of his tattoos. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security submitted to an immigration court an I-213 form that stated G.M.G. had no known criminal history, according to the ACLU’s lawsuit.
“His tattoos are for personal reasons, and he himself fears persecution by the TdA based on his experiences in Venezuela,” the lawsuit claims.
But federal officials remain adamant that he is a criminal and must be removed.
“The Trump Administration is committed to restoring the rule of law to our immigration system,” a senior Department of Homeland Security official said in a statement Monday. “No lawsuit, not this one or any other, is going to stop us from doing that. We have the law, the facts, and common sense on our side.”
Because of federal officials’ claims, the ACLU claims G.M.G. is at grave risk of being deported to El Salvador.
The ACLU’s lawsuit claims that ICE’s checklist on who constitutes an “alien enemy” relies on “several dubious criteria,” including tattoos, hand gestures, graffiti and what certain people wear.
Attorneys also argue that Trump’s proclamation provides no way for those accused of being gang members to contest the government’s claims and that the administration’s use of a wartime law should be invalid because the U.S. did not declare war with Venezuela.
“Tren de Aragua, a criminal organization, is not a nation or foreign government and is not part of the Venezuelan government,” the lawsuit states. “And neither Venezuela nor Tren de Aragua have invaded or threatened to invade the United States.”
The national ACLU has already convinced federal judges in New York and Texas to halt such removals under the Alien Enemies Act. Those rulings came after the U.S. Supreme Court permitted Trump to deport suspected gang members of Tren de Aragua, though the nation’s highest court agreed that those removed needed to have due process and a hearing to challenge their removal.
The ACLU has also filed a temporary restraining order to further halt removal as the Rhode Island lawsuit proceeds. DuBose will hold an online hearing on the matter on Wednesday, May 7.
This story was originally published by the Rhode Island Current.
