Former U.S. Attorney Jay Town believes President Donald Trump was acting within his authority under the Constitution when he deported dangerous criminal illegal aliens to El Salvador last weekend.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg tried to prevent the Trump administration from deporting Venezuelan immigrants who are members of the gang Tren de Aragua (TDA). The administration is arguing that the flights were already over international waters when Boasberg gave his order.
Town defended the actions of the President during a recent appearance on the Fox News Channel.
“What the President did is he very shrewdly intertwined TDA with the Venezuela government and is calling it a hybrid criminal state,” Town explained. “Maduro and TDA have joined together in law enforcement, in military. The Maduro government funds TDA to come to the United States to bring cocaine, to sow discord, to engage in violence, and [Trump] has enacted the Alien Enemies Act, declared TDA a foreign terrorist organization, and ordered their removal. That’s what the AEA was meant to do. So the President has acted in his Article Two authorities.”
He blasted Boasberg for trying to usurp the President’s constitutional authorities.
“[A]nd for a district judge in Washington, DC…to substitute his judgment for the President’s or the ACLU judgment you might as well substitute the winner of the Publishers Clearing House judgment for the President,” Town said.
He also criticized those in the media claiming Trump is going against the rule of law.
“And it’s quite astounding what you hear from political pundits, from people in media that, for instance, this is, and this is what was pled by the plaintiffs in this case, that this is merely a war power,” Town argued. “It is not if there is an invasion or predatory incursion. The President has the same powers under the Alien Enemies Act that he has if there is a declaration of war. What is an invasion or what is an incursion? There is no statutory definition. It is purely the judgment of the sitting, duly elected President of the United States, and that’s just the plain language of the statute.”
Town discussed his frustration with those trying to get in the way of the President’s attempts to protect the American people.
“My whole life was spent dealing with victims of crime, oftentimes violent crime and I can tell you that this is what I think underpins and underscores the idea that this is just lawfare by other means,” he said. “If this was a different president, there would be cheers that these plane loads of terrorists were leaving our country, but instead, there are those who would like to keep them here. And the ACLU has filed this suit, and this judge has entertained it.”
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee
