President Donald Trump’s administration deported more than 200 Venezuelans to El Salvador over the weekend. These individuals, along with 23 members of the international MS-13 gang, were sent to a supermax prison despite a federal judge’s effort to block the flights.
The deportations were carried out under the Alien Enemies Act, passed in 1798 as a wartime authority that allows the president to detain or deport natives and citizens of an enemy nation. This act permits deportation without a hearing for anyone from the designated enemy country who isn’t a naturalized citizen. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, the law was last utilized during World War II for interning noncitizens of Japanese, German, and Italian descent.
President Trump issued his proclamation Saturday calling for the “immediate apprehension, detention, and removal” of Tren de Aragua members. The proclamation claims they are attempting an invasion of the United States, an act referred to as “irregular warfare” within the document. The Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua has been linked to kidnapping, extortion, and contract killings.
US District Judge James Boasberg granted a temporary restraining order at an emergency hearing held hours before the proclamation’s release. He directed the government not to deport five Venezuelan nationals cited in a lawsuit brought by two nonprofits: Democracy Forward and the American Civil Liberties Union.
Shortly after the judge’s ruling, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele posted to social media site X (formerly Twitter) saying “Oopsie…Too late” along with a laughing emoji. Bukele confirmed on social media that the deportees had arrived on Sunday morning.
Several legal experts said the deportations appeared to be unlawful.
US media reported that after being informed by lawyers that planes with deportees had already taken off, Judge Boasberg gave a verbal order for the flights to turn back.
The timing of the deportation flights remains unclear, though the administration maintains the planes had already departed when the order was issued and therefore they did not violate the written directive.
Judge Boasberg then set a Monday hearing in Washington, ordering the Trump administration to explain whether it defied the Saturday court order. The administration was instructed to provide details on when the flights were scheduled, including whether the planes took off before or after his order was issued.
Shortly before Monday’s hearing, the Trump administration stated in a court filing that the judge’s spoken order to return the planes carrying the migrants was “not enforceable.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt denied that Judge Boasberg’s ruling had been violated, stating “the administration did not ‘refuse to comply’ with a court order.” She added that “the order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist TdA [Tren de Aragua] aliens had already been removed from US territory.”
The White House stressed on Sunday that federal courts “have no jurisdiction” over the President’s authority to cast out foreign enemies under the 18th-century law, which has historically only been used in wartime. Despite this stance, they also claimed they had complied with the order.
The Trump administration has asked the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to block Boasberg’s order while the case proceeds. A three-judge panel has set deadlines for Tuesday for the government to file arguments and Wednesday for the Venezuelans to respond. Boasberg has postponed his next hearing from Monday until Friday.
The White House claims these individuals were deported because they are violent criminals. However, neither the US government nor El Salvador has provided details about the detainees’ identities or evidence of their alleged criminal activity or gang membership.
Videos posted across White House and Border Patrol social media accounts showed lines of people with their hands and feet shackled being escorted by armed officials from planes into the detention facility.