Castanon Nava v. Department of Homeland Security

Under the Alien Enemies Act's requirement that the President act against nationals of a country "at war" or threatening "invasion," the central question is whether the Trump administration's characterization of Tren de Aragua gang activity as a Venezuelan "invasion" satisfies that statutory predicate during peacetime—a designation the plaintiffs argue cannot rest on criminal gang affiliation alone without an actual military threat or declared war. Even accepting the AEA's validity, the Trump v. J.G.G. precedent requires individualized habeas review of whether each detainee qualifies for removal, yet the plaintiffs allege DHS deported individuals with no proven gang membership and no meaningful process to contest their designation before deportation to El Salvador. The Seventh Circuit must therefore reconcile whether the AEA's historical war/invasion standard can be stretched to authorize peacetime removal based on executive national-security designations of foreign criminal organizations, and whether the habeas process Trump v. J.G.G. contemplated actually occurred before these removals took place.