Asian Law Caucus Celebrates Federal Court Rejection of Trump Use of Wartime Law
SAN FRANCISCO — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit on Tuesday issued a decision concluding that the Trump administration did not have substantial basis to invoke the Alien Enemies Act earlier this year. In W.M.M. v. Trump, the typically conservative Fifth Circuit panel disagreed with the administration’s claim that the mere presence of a Venezuelan gang constitutes a military attack justifying use of the law. In June, Asian Law Caucus, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC, and Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality filed an amicus brief on behalf of the Japanese American Citizens League and more than 60 Japanese and Asian American organizations, urging the Fifth Circuit to heed the lessons of WWII-era Japanese American incarceration and to ensure robust judicial review of the executive branch.
Aarti Kohli, executive director of Asian Law Caucus, said:
As part of the legal team for the Koramatsu coram nobis case, we exposed and know firsthand how the government lied about national security to justify Japanese American incarceration. Generations of Japanese American families have shared the irrevocable harm caused when our government used false claims to strip away their fundamental due process rights.
History teaches us that we cannot allow unlawful presidential action to go unchecked without judicial review. The Fifth Circuit affirms that no one, not even President Trump, is above the law. While we celebrate this victory, we are concerned that the court found seven days’ notice sufficient for detention, an unreasonably short time frame for due process.