WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first time since it was established three decades ago, a little-known federal court designed to handle deportation cases involving suspected terrorists has been put to use by the Trump administration.
The Alien Terrorist Removal Court was created in 1996 but sat completely unused until last Wednesday, when the Justice Department submitted an application seeking to remove an unnamed individual from the United States. The person’s identity was withheld from the single-page filing posted on the court’s website.
The court’s chief judge, Joan Ericksen, responded in writing after a hearing was held the following day. She indicated the court had concerns about the government’s legal arguments, noting there were “questions about the nexus that the government alleges between the actions of the respondent and the specific sections and subsections it invokes with respect to those actions.”
Ericksen, who serves as a federal judge in Minnesota, wrote that the government’s answers during the hearing suggested it could use more time to sharpen its case. “The answers persuaded the Court that the Government could benefit from the opportunity for more thoughtful consideration,” she wrote. She gave the Justice Department until this coming Wednesday to submit additional information.
The court’s legal foundation comes from the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. Under that law, the attorney general can file a sealed application to deport someone believed to be an “alien terrorist.” If approved, a public hearing must follow, during which the government bears the burden of proving the individual fits that classification. Either the attorney general or deputy attorney general must sign off on any application.
Federal law outlines several ways a person could be classified as an “alien terrorist,” including having participated in terrorist activity, promoting or supporting such activity, or belonging to a group that encourages terrorism.
The court consists of five judges chosen by Chief Justice John Roberts. According to a summary on the Federal Judicial Center’s website, the court had never received a petition or conducted any hearings prior to last week.
The move comes as the Trump administration has pursued an aggressive deportation agenda over the past year. That effort has included invoking a 1798 wartime statute known as the Alien Enemies Act to remove Venezuelan migrants accused of belonging to a terrorist gang. During proceedings in that case, a Washington judge named James Boasberg suggested the Alien Terrorist Removal Court would be the appropriate venue for deportation requests based on national security concerns.
“In fact, Congress has an answer for us, doesn’t it? Because they created the Alien Terrorist Removal Court,” Boasberg said at the time. “So if there’s a national security concern with having these hearings…you can always go to the ATRC, which would be a first, but that’s what it’s there for, right?”
The story was originally reported by Court Watch, an independent news outlet.
