Trump admin deports alleged Venezuelan gang members, judge orders them to return

(TNND) — The Trump administration has transferred hundreds of migrants to El Salvador despite a federal judge issuing an order temporarily barring the deportations under an 18th century wartime declaration targeting Venezuelan gang members, officials said Sunday.

Flights carrying the people, that included alleged gang members, were already in the air during the time of the ruling.

On Saturday, U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg issued an order blocking the deportations, however lawyers informed him that two planes full of migrants were already in route to El Salvador and Honduras under Trump’s orders. Boasberg verbally ordered the planes to turn around, but they were not turned as the judge did not include the directive in his order.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, a Trump ally who is on board with Trump’s plan to house migrants in Salvadorian prisons for a year in exchange for $6 million, responded to Boasberg’s order on X.

“Oopsie...Too late,” Bukele wrote.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who negotiated with Bukele to house migrants, wrote on X:

We sent over 250 alien enemy members of Tren de Aragua which El Salvador has agreed to hold in their very good jails at a fair price that will also save our taxpayer dollars.

On Saturday, Trump declared the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 and the migrants were deported soon after. This act has only been used three times in U.S. history.

The law, which was invoked during World War I, II and the War of 1812, requires the president to declare war within the United States, further giving him the power to detain or remove foreigners who would in normal circumstances have protections under immigration and criminal laws.

In a statement on Sunday, the Venezuelan government rejected the use of Trump’s declaration of the law, saying it is reminiscent of “the darkest episodes in human history, from slavery to the horror of the Nazi concentration camps.”

The move by the Trump administration, comes under Trump’s plan to deport members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, which has made its way into the U.S. The migrants deported have yet to be identified by the Trump administration, and it is uncertain if any of them are members of Tren de Aragua or if any committed crimes in the U.S.

Videos released by El Salvador’s government on Sunday show men exiting airplanes with their hands and ankles shackled as officers line the tarmac.

The videos also show the men being transported to the prison in large buses with police and military vehicles surrounding them.

The migrants were taken to the notorious CECOT facility.

The Trump administration said the president signed the proclamation contending Tren de Aragua was invading the United States Friday night but didn't announce it until Saturday afternoon. Immigration lawyers said late Friday, that they noticed Venezuelans who otherwise could not be deported under immigration law being moved to Texas for deportation flights. They began to file lawsuits to halt the transfers.

The litigation that led to the hold on deportations was filed on behalf of five Venezuelans held in Texas who lawyers said were concerned they'd be falsely accused of being members of the gang. Once the act is invoked, they warned, Trump could simply declare anyone a Tren de Aragua member and remove them from the country.

Boasberg bared those Venezuelans’ deportation Saturday morning when the suit was filed. The bar, however, only extends to people in federal custody who could be targeted by Trump’s act.

The bar stands for up to 14 days and in the meantime the migrants will remain in federal custody. Boasberg has scheduled a hearing for Friday, where the migrants whose deportations may violate the constitution will have a chance to have their cases heard.

Editor's note: The Associated Press contributed to this report.