The Trump Administration has activated the Alien Terrorist Removal Court for the first time ever, testing a new deportation process to swiftly deport aliens deemed to be terrorists.
According to the Federal Judicial Center,
In 1996 Congress created the Alien Terrorist Removal Court as a special court and authorized the Chief Justice of the United States to designate five U.S. district court judges to review applications for the removal from the United States of alien terrorists. Judges serve for staggered, renewable five-year terms and must be drawn from different judicial circuits. The Chief Justice may appoint to the court the same judges designated to serve on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The provisions for the court were part of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (110 Stat. 1214), a broad legislative effort to combat international terrorism.
The statute authorized the Attorney General to draft an application for removal of a suspected alien terrorist, and to submit the application to the removal court under seal. A single judge may grant the application upon a finding that the alien in question has been identified correctly as an alien terrorist present in the United States and that removal under other available legal means would pose a risk to national security. Upon granting a removal application, the court must hold a public removal hearing at which the accused has the right to be represented by counsel and the government bears the burden of proving that the accused is an alien terrorist. To avoid the disclosure of classified information, the government must prepare an unclassified summary of such information which the judge must find to be sufficient for the alien to prepare a defense. If the government meets its burden of proof at the hearing, the court will order the alien removed from the United States.
A July 16 order from the Alien Terrorist Removal Court reveals that the United States filed the first-ever application to the court to remove an unnamed respondent on July 15.
A hearing was held on July 16, during which the court was persuaded that “the Government could benefit from the opportunity for more thoughtful consideration,” Chief Judge Joan Eriksen wrote.
Previously, the use of the court was suggested to the Department of Justice by Obama Judge James Boasberg, who previously barred Trump from invoking the Alien Enemies Act to carry out mass deportations.
More from Politico:
The activation of the court is another indication of the Trump administration seeking to maximize its deportation authority in unprecedented ways. Though the court has never been used, its existence became an obstacle for the administration last year, when the administration sought to abruptly deport more than 100 Venezuelan nationals by labeling them members of Tren de Aragua, a transnational gang that Trump deemed a terrorist organization.
At the time, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg noted that the existence of the court seemed to suggest the administration could not simply deport people it labeled terrorists without the involvement of any court.
“In fact, Congress has an answer for us, doesn’t it? Because they created the Alien Terrorist Removal Court,” he said. “You can always go to the ATRC, which would be a first, but that’s what it’s there for, right?”
Trump administration attorney Drew Ensign responded that just because the administration could use the court doesn’t mean Trump was prohibited from using a different power — the Alien Enemies Act — to deport people without court proceedings.
Under the law establishing the court, applications to remove an “alien terrorist” must be approved by the attorney general or deputy attorney general — in this case, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche — and backed by a statement of facts describing the reason for the designation and certifying that the person’s presence is a threat to national security.
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