A federal judge serving in the U.S. District Court in Johnstown has issued a temporary restraining order barring the Trump Administration from removing an alleged member of the Venezuelan criminal gang Tren de Aragua without due process.

Judge Stephanie L. Haines on Tuesday issued the restraining order on behalf of an individual referred to by the pseudonym, A.S.R.

He is a Venezuelan national being detained at the Moshannon Valley Detention Center, near Philipsburg in Clearfield County.

According to a habeas corpus petition filed by Philadelphia attorney Brennan Gian-Grasso, A.S.R., 30, came to the United States through Texas in November 2023.

He was accompanied by his wife, his child and two stepchildren.

He ended up residing in Philadelphia, where, the petition stated, “he established himself as a respected member of the community.”

He regularly attended church and was employed as a construction worker.

When asked by the Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to attend an Intensive Supervision and Appearance Program in Philadelphia, he had no issue and attended the meeting.

That’s when ICE officials took him into custody.

ICE reported his alleged connection to the gang came from a neighbor.

A.S.R. is fighting for asylum in the United States, explaining he fears returning to Venezuela where, as a businessman, he was “extorted by groups associated with the Maduro regime.”

His lawsuit, which not only seeks protection for himself, but others facing deportation, expresses concern that he could end up in El Salvador due to President Donald Trump’s executive order of March 15 in which the president declared Tren de Aragua an enemy that was invading the nation.

According to the petition filed in Johnstown, the presidential order activated the Alien Enemies Act that in 1798 gave the president powers to regulate, detain and deport alleged “alien enemies.”

The Act has been used three times throughout American history, the War of 1812, World War I and World War II.

On March 15, it was used “to remove 137 Venezuelan noncitizens.”

They are now incarcerated in El Salvador.

A.S.R.’s lawsuit stated, “These individuals were given no opportunity to contest their designation as members of the TdA gang. … More evidence (has emerged) that many (perhaps most) of these individuals lacked any ties to the gang and were mistakenly placed under the proclamation.”

The Supreme Court earlier this month upheld the administration’s right to deport alleged alien enemies but ruled those earmarked for deportation are entitled to due process, which includes being given the opportunity to seek review through a habeas corpus proceeding.

The lawsuit by the Moshannon Valley inmate that was filed in Johnstown on Tuesday sought a temporary restraining order from Haines on behalf of A.S.R., and others in a similar situation, from being removed or transferred from western Pennsylvania.

Haines’ order was applicable to government respondents that included Trump and members of his cabinet.

She concluded that A.S.R. and others “have demonstrated that irreparable harm will result if they are transferred from this district or removed from the United States prior to a response and a hearing.”

Haines ordered the government to immediately respond and she scheduled further hearing in the matter for 11 a.m. Friday in the District Court in Johnstown.