U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO), a former Missouri Attorney General, is providing his perspective on the legal challenges facing President Donald Trump and his decision to use the Alien Enemies Act (AEA).
The administration is using the AEA to claim the legal authority to deport hundreds of migrants whom the administration has alleged are members of the Venezuelan criminal gang Tren de Aragua (TdA), moving them from the U.S. to a mega prison in El Salvador without due process.
(Note: According to the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and his originalist reading of the Constitution, all individuals present in the U.S. — whether documented or not — have the right to due process.)
On X, Schmitt wrote a long thread which started with “Judge Boasberg had no jurisdiction over the Tren de Aragua deportations under the Alien Enemies Act. Those TdA thugs must seek relief under ‘habeas’ where they are confined (Texas). This takes the AEA cases from DC to TX.”
(Judge James Boasberg, who issued an order blocking deportations from Texas, is the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for Washington, DC, a fact that informs Schmitt’s jurisdiction-based objection.)
Schmitt reported that last week “the ACLU filed, in NDTX before Judge Wes Hendrix, a habeas petition and a motion for an ex parte TRO, asking the court to enjoin the Trump Admin’s deportation of TdA members confined in NDTX without giving the Trump Admin notice or opportunity to respond.”
When Judge Hendrix denied that TRO motion, according to Schmitt, “Unhappy with that result, the ACLU left a voicemail on Judge Hendrix phone requesting to speak to the Judge about the substance of the proceeding, an improper ex parte communication.”
Unhappy with that result, the ACLU left a voicemail on Judge Hendrix phone requesting to speak to the Judge about the substance of the proceeding, an improper ex parte communication.
— Eric Schmitt (@Eric_Schmitt) April 22, 2025
Schmitt also reported that Judge Hendrix issued “a scathing opinion to the ACLU lawyer for his prohibited ex parte communications on Apr. 17, violating the federal code of conduct,” and speculates that the Trump administration “will respond and, likely, ask for sanctions.”
What's next? As for the TRO, the Trump Admin has responded to the ACLU's emergency injunction app. pending at SCOTUS. It will resolve in the coming days and the Trump admin will likely win.
— Eric Schmitt (@Eric_Schmitt) April 22, 2025
And the ex parte comms? The Trump admin will respond and, likely, ask for sanctions.
Most of Schmitt’s followers are thanking the Senator for the summary including attorney and podcast host Tom Renz who added: “This is all accurate and I agree that the ACLU was wildly inappropriate but you forgot to mention that the DOJ had already expressly agreed to the substance of the case – that the AEA detainees did indeed have a right to a habeas corpus hearing – in the Boasberg case. Didn’t like the SCOTUS ruling but have no idea why DOJ would take this position.”
