The Trump administration deported more than 250 migrants, including alleged members of Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang and MS-13, to El Salvador over the weekend, even as a federal judge in Washington, D.C., issued an emergency order temporarily blocking the deportations.
Flights carrying the migrants departed before or during U.S. District Judge James Boasberg's Saturday ruling, which halted deportations authorized under President Trump's recent invocation of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The judge's order directed the administration to pause the use of wartime powers to remove individuals and instructed planes already airborne to turn back, though that directive was not formally included in the written order.
"Thanks to the great work of the Department of State, these heinous monsters were extracted and removed to El Salvador where they will no longer be able to pose any threat to the American People," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement following the deportations.
President Trump on Saturday declared Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan prison gang, an enemy entity under the Alien Enemies Act, a rarely used wartime measure last invoked during World War II. The law allows the president to detain or deport nationals of an enemy nation during wartime or in response to an "invasion or predatory incursion."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the deportation of 238 Tren de Aragua members, as well as 23 MS-13 members, in a post 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," Rubio wrote.
El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele released videos showing the migrants arriving at the CECOT facility, the country's Terrorism Confinement Center, where he said they would be detained for one year. Responding to reports of the judge's order, Bukele posted, "Ooopsie... too late."
The migrants were shackled and escorted by heavily armed guards as they were transported from the planes to the prison. Bukele noted that El Salvador received "a very low fee" from the U.S. for accepting the deportees.
The American Civil Liberties Union and Democracy Forward filed lawsuits Saturday on behalf of five Venezuelan men held in Texas, seeking to halt deportations under Trump's declaration. Judge Boasberg initially blocked deportations for the five individuals, later broadening the order to cover others targeted by the proclamation. Another hearing is scheduled for March 21.
Immigration lawyers warned that under the Alien Enemies Act, Trump could remove individuals without allowing them to contest gang membership accusations or seek asylum. Advocates argued that the expedited removal process bypasses normal immigration proceedings and due process protections.
The Venezuelan government criticized Trump's use of the act, calling it reminiscent of "the darkest episodes in human history, from slavery to the horror of the Nazi concentration camps." Officials expressed concerns that the measure opens the door to mass deportations based on broad or unsubstantiated claims.
The administration's actions parallel historical uses of the Alien Enemies Act. During World War II, the law enabled the internment of over 31,000 individuals, primarily of Japanese, Italian, and German descent.
