A divided federal appeals court has just thrown cold water on President Donald Trump’s effort to use long-standing deportation powers to respond to the ongoing border crisis. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled against Trump’s argument that the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA) allows him to activate special deportation authority when foreign governments push mass migration into the United States.
The majority opinion dismissed Trump’s claim outright: “A country’s encouraging its residents and citizens to enter this country illegally is not the modern-day equivalent of sending an armed, organized force to occupy, to disrupt, or to otherwise harm the United States,” two judges wrote.
Trump has argued that state-backed mass migration—particularly from Venezuela—is a deliberate, hostile act and qualifies as a “predatory incursion” under the law. The AEA was designed for precisely these moments of national threat, giving presidents broad authority during invasions or foreign incursions. And with more than 10 million illegal and quasi-legal migrants crossing under Joe Biden’s watch, Trump insists America is facing something more than routine border pressure.
One judge on the panel agreed with Trump, blasting the majority for stripping the presidency of its constitutional power to protect the nation. “Time and time and time again, the Supreme Court has instructed that the President’s declaration of an invasion, insurrection, or incursion is conclusive. Final. And completely beyond the second-guessing powers of unelected federal judges,” the judge wrote. He warned that the majority’s approach “transmogrifies the least-dangerous branch into robed crusaders who get to playact as multitudinous Commanders in Chief.”
It’s no accident this ruling has struck a nerve. For years, the left has downplayed the crisis at our southern border while everyday Americans watch communities overwhelmed, resources drained, and crime rise. Biden’s migrants have already been tied to deadly crashes, violent crime, and workplace tragedies—all consequences of an unprotected border. Yet now, when a president attempts to use established legal tools to secure the homeland, the courts are second-guessing him.
The decision came from a split bench. The two judges who opposed Trump were appointed by George W. Bush and Joe Biden. The judge who sided with Trump—also a Bush appointee—stood firmly by the principle that the president’s authority in matters of national defense and border protection is not for the courts to dilute.
The case now heads toward the U.S. Supreme Court, where the stakes couldn’t be higher. At issue is whether the president still holds the power to declare an incursion and act swiftly to protect the country—or whether unelected judges can tie the hands of the Commander in Chief while foreign governments exploit America’s weakness at the border.
The crisis isn’t theoretical. It’s real, it’s deadly, and it’s unfolding right now. And the American people are left wondering: if this doesn’t count as an invasion, what does?
President Trump was elected by over 71 million Americans. He represents what Americans want and need. These judges were appointed and most of them are activists. President Trump should give them the finger and go on with securing the border and all these deportations of the illegal aliens that have been released from insane asylum’s and prisons of other countries that hate America!
Just the amount of drugs that have been confiscated is enough to warrant harm to the US. There’s a few million lives saved right there. Next thing they’ll argue about is whether Trump had the right to blow up the cartels boat!
This is a war and Trump is the CIC and should not be overruled by pathetic biased judges.