A federal judge has delivered one of the most damning legal condemnations of the Trump administration’s deportation crackdown to date, calling the treatment of immigrants under the Alien Enemies Act not only unconstitutional but “worse than what Nazi prisoners endured during World War II.”
The statement came from Judge Patricia Millett during an emergency hearing in Alexandria, Virginia, where attorneys representing a group of Venezuelan nationals presented evidence of prolonged solitary confinement, shackling, forced transfers on military aircraft, and denial of access to legal counsel.
“The government’s conduct in this case,” Judge Millett stated from the bench, “defies both the letter of the Constitution and the moral foundation on which this country claims to operate. What we are witnessing is a coordinated regime of psychological torture and legal erasure—one that surpasses, in some ways, the wartime standards even Nazi prisoners were subjected to.”
The Trump administration’s revival of the Alien Enemies Act, a relic of 1798 wartime legislation, has already triggered mass deportations of individuals from Venezuela, Iran, Syria, and Palestine—many of whom are legal residents or asylum seekers. No formal charges are filed in most cases. Detainees are held in ICE-run black sites or military facilities, often without access to lawyers or communication with their families.
This week’s hearing centered on a group of 231 Venezuelans, deported under secretive transfers routed through El Salvador and onward to a new facility in Honduras. Medical experts testified that some were held in isolation for over 23 hours per day, in temperatures exceeding 90°F, with lights on around the clock. Several have reported suicidal ideation.
Civil liberties organizations were quick to respond to Judge Patricia Millett’s remarks. The ACLU called the decision “historic,” and Human Rights Watch said the ruling should “force Congress to intervene immediately.” But with the Trump-controlled House and Senate backing the use of war-era laws for immigration enforcement, no legislative challenge appears likely.
Instead, the case may now move toward the Supreme Court, where the legality of reviving the Alien Enemies Act in peacetime—without a formal declaration of war—could set a generational precedent.
Meanwhile, deportations continue. ICE has ignored previous court injunctions under the direction of Trump’s DOJ, and multiple judges have already reported interference with their orders. Judge Millett’s ruling stopped short of an injunction but laid the groundwork for future constitutional challenges.
“This is not immigration enforcement,” she concluded. “This is state-sponsored retribution under the guise of national security.”
The Crustian Daily will continue following the case and related judicial rulings as the Trump administration pushes the U.S. immigration and legal systems into uncharted—and dangerous—territory.
