A federal judge intervened Saturday to halt the Trump administration’s attempt to use a centuries-old law to fast-track the deportation of Venezuelan migrants accused of gang affiliations, just hours after President Donald Trump invoked the statute.
U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg issued an emergency order after discovering that the government had already started transporting migrants to El Salvador and Honduras under the new policy. Earlier in the week, El Salvador had agreed to accept up to 300 individuals labeled by the Trump administration as gang members.
“I do not believe I can wait any longer and am required to act,” Boasberg stated during a Saturday evening hearing in response to a lawsuit filed by the ACLU and Democracy Forward. “A brief delay in their removal does not cause the government any harm,” he added, emphasizing that the migrants would remain in government custody. The judge also directed that any deportation flights already in progress be turned back.
The decision came shortly after Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a law from the nation’s early history granting the president expanded powers during perceived national security threats. Trump asserted that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua represented a significant danger to the U.S., describing it as a “hybrid criminal state” engaged in an “invasion” of the country.
“Over the years, Venezuelan national and local authorities have ceded ever-greater control over their territories to transnational criminal organizations, including TdA,” Trump declared in a proclamation released just over an hour before Boasberg’s hearing. “The result is a hybrid criminal state that is perpetrating an invasion of and predatory incursion into the United States, and which poses a substantial danger to the United States.”
The Alien Enemies Act, which has been used only three times in U.S. history—most recently during World War II—would have allowed the administration to bypass standard immigration procedures and deport individuals identified as gang members without the usual legal safeguards.
Attorney General Pam Bondi criticized Boasberg’s decision in a statement Saturday night, arguing that it undermined the president’s authority. “This order disregards well-established authority regarding President Trump’s power, and it puts the public and law enforcement at risk,” Bondi said.
The Tren de Aragua gang, which began in a Venezuelan prison, has been linked to criminal activities across multiple countries. Trump and his allies have pointed to the group as emblematic of the alleged threats posed by undocumented immigrants, designating it a “foreign terrorist organization” last month.
Despite claims by Venezuelan authorities that the gang has been dismantled, arrests of its members have been reported in several countries. The Trump administration’s proclamation, signed Friday night, prompted immigration lawyers to file emergency lawsuits after noticing a sudden push to deport Venezuelans who otherwise lacked legal grounds for removal.
Boasberg initially issued an order at 9:20 a.m. Saturday, blocking the deportation of five Venezuelans named as plaintiffs in the ACLU lawsuit. The Trump administration appealed, arguing that preventing a presidential action before its announcement would undermine executive authority.
If the order were allowed to stand, “district courts would have license to enjoin virtually any urgent national-security action just upon receipt of a complaint,” the Justice Department wrote in its appeal.
The legal clash underscores the ongoing tension between the Trump administration’s immigration policies and judicial oversight as advocates continue to challenge efforts to expedite deportations.