Indians deported, but Trump fields India-born lawyer to argue deportation Act

A raging battle is going on between the executive and the judiciary in the US over the deportation of illegal immigrants. And the Trump administration has picked an India-born advocate to defend its use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport people who were staying illegally in the US. Around 400 Indians were among the thousands of illegal immigrants deported from the US on special flights.

Abhishek Kambli, an Indian-American lawyer and Deputy Associate Attorney General at the US Department of Justice, is leading the Trump administration’s defence of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The Act, which grants the President the power to detain, relocate, or deport non-citizens, has been invoked by the Trump administration but is now being challenged in court.

This legal fight comes amid a broader battle between the executive and the judiciary, as several of US President Donald Trump’s orders have been contested by the judiciary.

Kambli is arguing against Judge James Boasberg, an Obama administration appointee, who ordered a halt to the deportation flights. Kambli argued that since the flights were already in international waters, they could not be called back. The judge found this argument unconvincing.

Trump has criticised the judge as an unelected "troublemaker and agitator".

It was the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) which took the matter to court on March 15, an hour after Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport five Venezuelan migrants. They were flown to El Salvador.

The spotlight is on Kambli as he defends the Trump administration in this case. But who is this Indian-origin lawyer?

ABHISHEK KAMBLI: ARTS SCHOOL, ENTERTAINMENT STINT, LAW AND MILITARY

Born in India, Kambli moved to the US at the age of three and spent his childhood in Connecticut.

Speaking on the Foster and Friends podcast, he described his upbringing as "working-class", saying his father ran a gas station while his mother worked in bank administration.

He attended a small liberal arts school in Philadelphia before attempting a career in the entertainment industry. However, he later followed his father’s advice and pursued law.

"Finally, I took my father's advice and went to law school in Notre Dame... After that, I went to the military straight out of law school... I wanted to serve the country, which I felt had given me so much," he said.

Kambli joined the US military as a Judge Advocate General, where he handled both prosecution and defence cases. It was during this time that he met his wife.

However, due to constant relocations, he decided to leave the military and settle in Indianapolis as a federal prosecutor.

His family's immigrant experience had a lasting impact on him, especially the struggles his father faced. His grandfather had died when his father was just two years old, leaving his grandmother with limited means to raise eight children.

KAMBLI: LAWYER WITH BIGGER ASPIRATIONS?

Kambli also spoke about his growing dissatisfaction with the country’s trajectory.

"After a period of time at the job, I saw what was going on in the country. I saw a nation effectively in decline unless something changed, and given that I had kids, I wanted to do something that effectively changed the trajectory," he said in the podcast.

This led him to apply for the Office of Attorney General of Kansas, where he handled cases related to student loan forgiveness and other federal matters that he believed could "slow down the decline".

His career saw a steady rise. He worked as Assistant United States Attorney from 2019 to 2023, then became Deputy Attorney General for Special Litigation and Constitutional Issues for the next two years, before taking on the role of Deputy Associate Attorney General.

Now, as a top official in the Justice Department, Kambli is at the centre of one of the most contentious legal battles currently.

KAMBLI'S DEFENCE OF THE ALIEN ENEMIES ACT

As promised in his election campaign, Trump is deporting illegal immigrants in large numbers. The Indian government is cooperating with the Trump administration on this.

Four flights have landed in India with those detained in the US without citizenship documents.

Courts are hearing matters related to deportations.

In the court hearing to defend the Alien Enemies Act, he told the judge, "The two flights that took off after the written order were not relevant to the Alien Enemies Act case", as reported by Courthouse News Service.

He further argued, "Boasberg’s oral command wasn’t binding because the judge didn’t include the instructions about airborne flights in his written order."

"The court lost jurisdiction the moment the planes left US airspace," added Kambli.

When the judge asked if the planes could have returned to the US instead of continuing forward, Kambli responded, "That’s not the approach we've taken in this argument."

The spotlight is on the Alien Enemies Act and thereby on the Indian-origin lawyer and his defence of the Trump administration could well help him "contribute to the nation which has given him so much".