DOJ Activates Untested Court           07/20 06:23

   

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Trump administration has filed a first-ever petition 
to a secretive and dormant court created 30 years ago to consider government 
requests to deport so-called "alien terrorists" from the United States.

   The Alien Terrorist Removal Court was established in 1996 but had never 
received a petition until this past Wednesday, when the Justice Department 
filed an application seeking the removal of an individual whose name is 
withheld from the single-page document posted on the court's website.

   The chief judge of the five-member court, Joan Ericksen, said in a written 
response to the petition that a hearing was held on Thursday during which the 
court had "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.

   "The answers persuaded the Court that the Government could benefit from the 
opportunity for more thoughtful consideration," wrote Ericksen, a federal judge 
in Minnesota.

   She directed the Justice Department to provide more information by Wednesday.

   The court's authorities emerged from the Antiterrorism and Effective Death 
Penalty Act of 1996, which permits the attorney general to file under seal 
applications for the deportation of a suspected "alien terrorist." If an 
application is granted, the court must hold a public hearing at which the 
government has the burden to prove that the individual satisfies that 
definition. Applications must be approved by the attorney general or deputy 
attorney general.

   Federal law says that an individual could qualify as an "alien terrorist" 
by, among other factors, having "engaged in a terrorist activity," endorsing or 
espousing terrorist activities and by belonging to a political or social group 
that encourages terrorist activity.

   The court has been dormant since its creation, having received -- until last 
week -- no applications and conducting no hearings, according to a summary 
posted on the Federal Judicial Center website. It is comprised of five judges 
selected by Chief Justice John Roberts.

   The Trump administration has moved aggressively over the last year to carry 
out deportations, including invoking a 1798 wartime law, the Alien Enemies Act, 
to remove Venezuelan migrants who officials accuse of being part of a terrorist 
gang. During a hearing in that case last year, the Washington judge presiding 
over it, James Boasberg, indicated that the Alien Terrorist Removal Court would 
be the natural forum to consider a request for deportation on national security 
grounds.

   "In fact, Congress has an answer for us, doesn't it? Because they created 
the Alien Terrorist Removal Court," he said. "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 petition was first reported by Court Watch, an independent news site.