The couple and their three children have lived in the United States since 2022 under temporary protected status.
US Supreme Court temporarily halts deportations of Venezuelan migrants
The U.S. Supreme Court paused President Donald Trump’s administration from deporting Venezuelan men in immigration custody.
A federal judge in Texas ruled against deporting Venezuelan immigrants, finding it inappropriate for President Donald Trump to invoke the 1798 wartime law, the Alien Enemies Act.
U.S. District Judge David Briones, of El Paso, made the ruling on April 25, and ordered the release of Julio Cesar Sanchez Puentes and Luddis Norelia Sanchez Garcia from a federal detention facility in El Paso, a couple accused of being members of the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, according to the court opinion obtained by USA TODAY.
Briones’ decision found that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials failed to prove “any lawful basis” indicating why the couple should be detained any longer for an alleged alien enemy violation, according to the judge’s opinion.
“There is no doubt the Executive Branch’s unprecedented peacetime use of wartime power has caused chaos and uncertainty for individual petitions as well as the judicial branch in how to manage and evaluate the Executive’s claims of Tren de Aragua membership, and the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act as a whole,” wrote Briones, who was appointed in 1994 by President Bill Clinton.
Couple lived in Washington, D.C. area since 2022
When the couple entered the United States Oct. 13, 2022, in El Paso, they were initially detained by immigration officials, according to the court document. They were then arrested and “accused of being aliens to the United States,” a criminal complaint against the couple says.
The court opinion states that the couple was paroled the following day and lived in D.C. with their three children after being granted temporary protected status. They were notified on April 1, 2025, that their status was terminated due to their alleged “association with a Foreign Terrorist Organization,” the document continues.
Briones’ ruling says the allegations against the couple are based on “multiple levels of hearsay, hidden within declarations of declarants who have no personal knowledge about the facts they are attesting to.”
In a statement emailed April 26 to USA TODAY, the couple’s attorney, Chris Benoit, said: “We are thrilled that Cesar and Norelia will finally be able to go home and be reunited with their children.”
“We are grateful for the Court’s careful consideration of all the issues and delighted to see this thoughtful, well-reasoned decision ordering their release,” the attorney continued. “There was no basis for any of the accusations the government was making against them, and the ordeal they have been through is tremendous.”
Trump invoked Alien Enemies Act in March
The couple’s attorneys filed multiple petitions to challenge the legality of their clients’ imprisonment, including in a Virginia federal court, which led to their release on April 16. The couple was detained by ICE agents at the El Paso International Airport, following the judge’s ruling to allow them to return to Washington, D.C., according to Briones’ opinion.
“Cesar and Norelia have now gone in front of four different judges, none of whom thought they should be detained,” Benoit said in his statement. “They have deep ties to their community. They have three minor children. They have Temporary Protected Status. And they have been living peacefully in the United States since 2022.”
Briones’ ruling comes after Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act on March 15 in an attempt to deport alleged members of the Tren de Aragua criminal organization. Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court paused Trump’s administration from deporting Venezuelan men in immigration custody after their lawyers argued that they would be removed from the country without the due process mandated by the justices.
The Trump administration urged the Supreme Court to allow the deportations, with Solicitor General John Sauer saying in a filing on April 19: “Those aliens are Venezuelan nationals who are unlawfully present in the United States and subject to removal under other authorities, but who the government has determined are members of the foreign terrorist organization Tren de Aragua and thus subject to removal pursuant to the AEA. This Court should deny applicants’ extraordinary request.”