The Trump administration deports hundreds of migrants even a judge's order that removals be stopped

The Trump administration said on Sunday that hundreds of people were deported from the nation after President Donald Trump used broad wartime authorities to expedite the deportation of migrants reportedly associated with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

On Saturday, a federal court blocked President Donald Trump from invoking a wartime powers statute to deport accused Venezuelan gang members without a trial, ordering the government to send back any planes that had already taken off after the Alien Enemies statute was surreptitiously implemented.

Trump signed a proclamation Friday directing the use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 for the first time since World War II to quickly remove Venezuelans suspected of involvement in the transnational gang known as Tren de Aragua. Only three times has the legislation been invoked to ban people of hostile enemy nations from entering the United States, and those were during declared wars. The White House kept the proclamation under wraps until Saturday, when activists for immigrants sued, thinking he was already removing immigrants from the nation.

The news comes after a federal judge temporarily halted the Trump administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act, which has only been invoked three times previously, on Saturday evening, and immediately ordered any planes carrying some of those people to return to the United States. The judge stated that the temporary restraining order will be in force for 14 days, "or until further order of the court." According to one individual acquainted with the situation, the jets were already in the air when the judge issued his verdict.

“Particularly given the plaintiffs’ information, unrebutted by the government, that flights are actively departing and planning to depart, I do not believe that I’m able to wait any longer,” said US District Judge James Boasberg during the hearing. "Any plane containing these folks that is going to take off or is in the air needs to be returned to the United States."

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, stated that immigration officers had "arrested nearly 300 Tren de Aragua terrorists" over the weekend and transferred them to El Salvador. The country's president, Nayib Bukele, stated that 238 members of the transnational Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and 23 members of the Salvadoran MS-13 gang had already arrived in El Salvador and were in his custody, with a social media post responding to the judge's ruling that read, "Oopsie, too late," followed by a laughing emoji.

A blue "Global X" jet took off from Harlingen, Texas, on Saturday afternoon and arrived at El Salvador International Airport approximately an hour after the judge's decision. El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele posted a video on X on Sunday that looked to show six deportees being removed from a blue "Global X" jet and placed into the hands of heavily armed Salvadoran authorities.

The United States will pay El Salvador $6 million to shelter deportees. According to Bukele, the money would assist to fund the correctional system, which now costs $200 million each year. Bukele further stated that the move will assist law enforcement gather intelligence and catch MS-13 members.

According to Stephen Gillers, a law professor at New York University, if the government is permitted to disobey a court order with "impunity," the country may face a constitutional crisis.

“Now that Congress has shown itself subservient to the wishes of the White House, the judiciary is the last check against the exercise of autocratic power in the president,” Gillers said. "The question before the country is whether the judges will use their contempt and other powers to resist the elimination of checks and balances in order to protect the rule of law."