A federal judge on Monday temporarily halted the deportation of a Venezuelan man who lives in Rhode Island.
Rhode Island U.S. District Court Judge Melissa R. DuBose issued an order stating that the man cannot be removed “outside the District of Rhode Island without providing the Court with at least 48 hours’ advance notice of the move and the reason therefore.”
The order follows the filing of an emergency lawsuit by the Rhode Island ACLU, in conjunction with the national organization, earlier this week.
The currently unidentified man known in court documents as G.M.G. is a barber who is accused of being a member of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, according to court documents filed by the ACLU. The man has tattoos, which he says are personal and not a marker of gang affiliation.
G.M.G. entered the U.S. in 2023 after he was repeatedly threatened by Venezuelan authorities due to “his perceived political opposition,” according to ACLU filings. He has had a pending application for asylum since August 2024. He is currently detained at the Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls.
The ACLU suit on behalf of G.M.G. comes after President Trump issued a Proclamation in March invoking a war power, the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 (AEA). It allows for the summary removal of “noncitizens” from the U.S., bypassing “the immigration laws Congress has enacted.”
The federal government has used the AEA to deport Venezuelans accused of being members of the Tren de Aragua criminal gang to a prison in El Salvador. At least “137 Venezuelan men have been removed under the Proclamation and are now in El Salvador in one of the most notorious prisons in the world, possibly for the rest of their lives,” according to an ACLU filing.
A federal judge in Texas on Thursday ruled that President Trump’s use of the AEA to detain and deport Venezuelan immigrants was “unlawful.” The judge’s order applies to the Southern District of Texas, but may eventually be headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
ACLU of Rhode Island Executive Director Steven Brown declined to comment at this time. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment.
The unidentified Venezuelan man’s next hearing in federal court is scheduled for Wednesday.
