A federal judge barred the Trump administration Saturday from carrying out deportations under a sweeping 18th century law that the president invoked hours earlier to speed removal of Venezuelan gang members from the United States.
U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg said he needed to issue his order immediately because the government already was flying migrants it claimed were newly deportable under President Donald Trump’s proclamation to be incarcerated in El Salvador and Honduras. El Salvador already agreed this week to take up to 300 migrants that the Trump administration designated as gang members.
“I do not believe I can wait any longer and am required to act,” Boasberg said during a Saturday evening hearing in a lawsuit brought by the ACLU and Democracy Forward. “A brief delay in their removal does not cause the government any harm,” he added, noting they remain in government custody but ordering that any planes in the air be turned around.
The ruling came hours after Trump claimed the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua was invading the United States and invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a wartime authority that allows the president broader leeway on policy and executive action to speed up mass deportations.
The act has only ever been used three times before, all during wars. Its most recent application was during World War II, when it was used to incarcerate Germans and Italians as well as for the mass internment of Japanese-American civilians.
In a proclamation released just over an hour before Boasberg's hearing, Trump contended that Tren de Aragua was effectively at war with the United States.
“Over the years, Venezuelan national and local authorities have ceded ever-greater control over their territories to transnational criminal organizations, including TdA,” Trump’s statement reads. “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 order could let the administration deport any migrant it identifies as a member of the gang without going through regular immigration proceedings, and also could remove other protections under criminal law for people the government targeted.
The Tren de Aragua gang originated in a prison in the South American country and accompanied an exodus of millions of Venezuelans, the overwhelming majority of whom were seeking better living conditions after their nation’s economy came undone last decade. Trump and his allies have turned the gang into the face of the alleged threat posed by immigrants living in the U.S. illegally and formally designated it a “foreign terrorist organization” last month.
Authorities in several countries have reported arrests of Tren de Aragua members, even as Venezuela’s government claims to have eliminated the criminal organization.
The government said Trump actually signed the order Friday night. Immigration lawyers noticed the federal government suddenly moving to deport Venezuelans who they would not otherwise have the legal right to expel from the country, and scrambled to file lawsuits to block what they believed was a pending proclamation.
Boasberg issued an initial order at 9:20 a.m. Saturday blocking the Trump administration from deporting five Venezuelans named as plaintiffs in the ACLU suit who were being detained by the government and believed they were about to be deported. The Trump administration appealed that order, contending that halting a presidential act before it has been announced would cripple the executive branch.
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.
Boasberg then scheduled the afternoon hearing on whether to expand his order to all people who could be targeted under Trump's declaration.
Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign contended that the president had broad latitude to identify threats to the country and act under the 1798 law. He noted the U.S. Supreme Court allowed President Harry Truman to continue to hold a German citizen in 1948, three years after World War II ended, under the measure.
“This would cut very deeply into the prerogatives of the president,” Ensign said of an injunction.
But Lee Gelernt of the ACLU contended that Trump didn't have the authority to use the law against a criminal gang rather than a recognized state. Boasberg said precedent on that question seemed tricky but that the ACLU had a reasonable chance of success on those arguments, and so the order was merited.
Boasberg halted deportations for those in custody for up to 14 days, and scheduled a Friday hearing in the case.
The flurry of litigation shows the significance of Trump's declaration, the latest step by the administration to expand presidential power. Ensign argued that, as part of its reaction to the Sept. 11, 2001 attack, Congress had given the president power to delegate “transnational” organizations threats on the level of recognized states. And Gelernt warned that the Trump administration could simply issue a new proclamation to use the Alien Enemies Act against another migrant gang, like MS-13, which has long been one of Trump's favorite targets.
Associated Press writer Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report.
© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
45 Comments
TokyoLiving
A gang declared war to another gang..
LOL
I'veSeenFootage
Imagine having to lie about your country being invaded because you're too incompetent to carry out mass deportations otherwise. The guy ran on being violently anti "illegals" and he's actually deporting less immigrants than Biden did. Is there anything this man can't fail at?!
ok1517
Donald doing his best to bolster his "dic(K)traitorship" in the making!
theFu
Anyone who entered the US illegally should be deported. Don't care if they enter today or 25 yrs ago.
If they are in-processing for asylum, then they cannot be deported. If they entered illegally, no asylum should be granted, ever. Place an RFID deep inside them so they will be easy to find if they ever try again and deport them.
If you want to immigrate to the US, great. Fill out the paperwork, get the interview, wait in line like all the other legal immigrants. It is only fair.
Nothing bothers me more than people jumping a line. Doesn't matter if it is at a concert, on a roadway, at an airport or when trying to immigrate.
The US needs a maximum limit of immigrants each year and from each country. Some countries have more than filled their quotas. Time to let some other countries have greater chances. But once the total amount is full for a week, month, year, no mas. No exceptions.
bass4funk
No lie, Myorkas and Biden let in more than 20 million illegals, that happened, it’s in the books, Border Patrol knows it, as well as Homeland, DOJ and the police and for 4 years the agents were allowed to do their job to protect the border, that’s changed now and this administration will and should use any tool at their disposal to end this nightmare and send these people back. Not about being incompetent, more about seeking the quickest way and to bypass liberal activists judges who would try and slow this process down.
That will tick up, there is no question about it.
I'veSeenFootage
I think you meant 200 BILLION AT LEAST!!!!!
Kash Patel's books, yeah. The 20 million number has been debunked numerous times.
https://cmsny.org/correcting-record-false-misleading-statements-on-immigration/
They are already well behind their goals for deportations and will never attain them, it's mathematically impossible at this point. Just take the L.
ok1517
Bass,
wrong! It wasn't 20 million illegals, it was 8 million. (see here: budget.house.gov/imo/media/doc/ogr_icymi.pdf)
May I add, that this is the latest "budget.house" site, so under Donald's administration!
But I agree, under Donald's reign it was roughly 3 million - much less!
However, (yup, "HOWEVER") remember what time it was?
COVID in the air, a staggering economy, less border protection (remember the Mexican-paid wall) and so on. So the numbers could've been much higher.
bass4funk
No
Hardly, I will take the word of the Border Patrol over any NYC liberal think tank organization, nice try.
That will tick up, it’s March, relax.
Again, I trust the border stats and we didn’t even talk about the gotaways, but leafs say for arguments sake it’s 8 million, that’s still way, way frightening too many.
Anyway, I’m mush happier now.
plasticmonkey
Can you show us an authoritative source for this 20 million figure?
wallace
How many illegals entered the US during Biden's term?
According to the Border Security, it was 7.1 million people until January 2024. The total figure for illegal people is 11 million.
Wrong figures.
patkim
During Trump's term, he also allowed millions of illegals into the country on his watch. His so-called wall was never finished and he even though he promised that Mexico would pay for it, they did not.
Trump's deportation rates at this point hasn't been overwhelming. It's pretty much in line with Biden's numbers.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/03/politics/deportation-flights-trump-biden-dg/index.html
Also, he's released all immigrants held in Guantanamo Bay recently and thus wasted about 16 million dollars in doing so.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/12/us/politics/ice-migrants-guantanamo.html
bass4funk
You would be wrong…again as usual.
https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/nationwide-encounters
Here is the thing, and I’m most even sure how libs try to justify this, they can’t actually, but every law enforcement agency backed Trump, every last one. They all knew as did the majority of Americans that the Dems were bringing daily millions of people.
Even that is way, way too many if that is true.
I disagree
https://youtu.be/5piOqPBdQmo?si=uiGqDzx0RfoAD3kP
Thank God this is a thing of the past.
plasticmonkey
The Guantanamo idea was stupid from the get go. All food, water, and other provisions need to be airlifted in--at tremendous cost.
It was simply a way to demonstrate to the MAGA cult that Trump and Hogan are sufficiently tough and mean. Just performative and wasteful BS.
bass4funk
No, he didn’t allow it, Pelosi wouldn’t help him fund the wall and he was dealing with a Democrat Congress
Yup.
https://youtu.be/Q3lBJeIJMrw?si=mYBOII1t1cfFqGw2
Trump's deportation rates at this point hasn't been overwhelming. It's pretty much in line with Biden's numbers. Americans in the end didn’t care who paid for it, they cared that it was just built.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/03/politics/deportation-flights-trump-biden-dg/index.html
177 illegal aliens landing in Venezuela that were deported from Guantanamo Bay by President Trump, yesterday! 80 of them are linked to the notorious Tren de Aragua gang that Joe Biden rolled out the welcome mats for!
Money well spent.
bass4funk
I disagree
Well, worth it, especially they don’t need to be in the U.S. that is a good thing.
Ok.
Ah_so
Firstly, he said México was going to pay for the wall. Secondly, he had control of Congress for the first two years of his term, during which time he did nothing. It was only after he lost control of Congress that he started to put the bill though and then started whining that the Dems were blocking him.
I'm surprised you've forgotten this sequence of events.
wallace
Only in your book.
Ah_so
Really Bass? What are the facts....?
bass4funk
Then you need to talk to the Cartels, under Biden over 300K went missing, not a word from the left, had that happened under Trump we wouldn’t hear the end of it, you know it and I know it. Come on now!
https://youtu.be/vWoN9nh7Pyw?si=-5sDfMD3L-4p_9CW
A nation without borders is not a nation-period!
What? Oh, dear lord…lol For 4 years when the left silenced conservatives, they didn’t call it fascism then did they?
No, America is governed by a President elected by the people of this great country who were sick and tired of 12 years of Democrat misery, that’s what happened. Again, every country has a right to sovereignty and the U.S. is no exception
plasticmonkey
Nothing in that link mentions 20 million illegal immigrants under Biden.
That is also false. Law enforcement agencies do not back candidates, unions do. And not all unions endorsed Trump.
Oh, so that would mean billions came in during the Biden administration. You keep changing the figures.
Why didn't they just send them straight to Venezuela? Why the stopover in Guantanamo? Sounds like a waste of money to me. I think we need to put Elon and his band of Doge teenagers on the case. Chainsaw!
lincolnman
Just more obfuscation to deflect from and obscure the real policy changes....gutting Medicare and Social Security - and giving he and his ultra-rich buds a "yuuuuge" tax break...
It's becoming more clear every day that "The Plan" is to keep the MAGA-faithfull bamboozled and distracted - while he fires and replaces them from their jobs, guts their healthcare, bankrupts them with inflation, and sinks their retirement investments with a tanking stock market...
Our MAGA-friends voted to send themselves and their families into poverty...and they'll gladly do it again...
Sound like a cult?
Geeter Mckluskie
That L is for America to take...in terms of homelessness, crime and a burden on the public coffers
bass4funk
Not my book, talk to Bondi, Homan and Noem , trying to convince me won’t work, maybe you can convince them since that’s their job.
https://thehill.com/latino/407848-yale-mit-study-22-million-not-11-million-undocumented-immigrants-in-us/
They did
Not me
Does it make a difference? The main this is, they shouldn’t be in the U.S.
I think it’s good money spent, the faster we get these people out, the better for the nation and if they want to come back, they should do so, my grandparents did, they can as well. No excuses.
plasticmonkey
Let's say a minimum of 2 million per day were let in during the Biden administration. Over four years that would be something like 2.9 billion illegal immigrants, or a third of the planet's population.
So yes, you are massively exaggerating the figures.
bass4funk
Not me.
https://youtu.be/qN8EBQxgEkU?si=j3TS2A9XrGl60T8Q
Paul Novax
Trump invokes 18th century law to declare invasion by gangs and speed deportations
Just for historical context, the US Constitution is an 18th century document, and we see it invoked day in and day out.
Blacklabel
Also interesting that supposedly activist weekend judges can “pre”block things related to our national security.
Paul Novax
The White House has already designated Tren de Aragua a terrorist organization and is preparing to move about 300 people it identifies as members of the gang to detention in El Salvador.
What's the argument against deporting terrorists and gang members?
plasticmonkey
That link also does not mention your claim of "daily millions".
It is possible to admit you exaggerated for rhetorical purposes, you know. Like Trump does. Daily.
HopeSpringsEternal
Who anywhere wants illegal criminal gang members running amuck on their streets? DJT just doing what he promised on the campaign trail and why he was elected.
How can anyone support anything other than restoring law and order? It's Common Sense DJT promised.
It seems many here view DJT as the problem = WEIRD
HopeSpringsEternal
Most Americans want illegals, especially criminal gang members, removed immediately from the US and thus support the Trump Admin's efforts to do so.
Again, WHO wants illegal alien criminal gangs on their streets? Citizens of all countries want criminals off their streets, whether citizens or not.
Deo Gratias
The president of the United States -- whoever it is -- should already have vast power to deport people who are in the country illegally.
The operative word in that sentence is "illegally."
The president shouldn't even have to show that someone in the country illegally is a member of a criminal gang.
Just the fact that the person is illegally in the country should be more than enough to justify swift and summary deportation.
This should not be controversial at all. This should be something that everyone, whether conservative or liberal, should understand.
Legal immigration. Illegal immigration.
For Heaven's sake, a 10-year-old can sort out the difference. Why can't certain "progressives"?
bass4funk
And that’s all we want and it’s the absolute right thing for ANY sovereign nation to do.
bass4funk
The Democrats are angry because there is no way to stop this, many of the sanctuary cities are now forced to comply with this new DOJ and many of the migrant gangs that exist are now being justifiably targeted, arrested and deported, despite some of the legal challenges the Dems are trying to throw at this administration, it may slow them down for awhile, but it’s not stopping them, since they have no power Congressionally, the courts are the Dems last, but fading hope.
I'veSeenFootage
There's no argument against that of course. But there is an argument against designating asylum seekers as "gang members" in order to deport them.
bass4funk
Bottom line, illegal is illegal, once it has been established that “asylum seekers” are exactly who they say they are, they should be allowed to stay as long as they abide by all of our laws and guidelines, but that needs to be carefully sorted out, but do they have a right to stay, they do not not, the U.S. is not constitutionally obligated to grant anyone asylum if they see certain individuals as a threat to the nation.
Blacklabel
so knowing this, all gang members just claim asylum.
we are getting rid of the actual gang members and you out here making loopholes for them to stay.
cause you want crime now. That you can blame on Trump.
GuruMick
MS 13 is the name of the El Salvador gang, that originated in California.....
lincolnman
I'm surprised Trump hasn't offered all these violent gang members jobs working security for MAL, Bedminster, and Westchester...
They could join all the other illegal immigrant maids, butlers, and groundskeepers that have been employed there for years...
Blacklabel
amazing service isn’t it? This activist judge needs an extra bonus from ActBlue funding.
accepts a Saturday lawsuit already created in advance, reviews it, researches the law, decides, creates a ruling and even demands that any planes in the air turn around.
All within 1 hour.
Deo Gratias
With regard to this matter, one is either on Trump's side or is on the illegal-alien criminal gangs' side.
There's no neutrality. There's no middle ground.
You're either on the side of protecting the lives of American citizens from violent thugs who shouldn't even be in the country in the first place -- or you're on the thugs' side.
It's that simple.
And now we can clearly see which side at least some "progressives" on.
Then they wonder why they got their butts kicked in the last election.
Paul Novax
Where is this issue expressed in the article?
Blacklabel
exactly! Zero.
none of this “of course I don’t support violent illegal gangs but….”
there is no “but” here.
why are so many “asylum seekers” these days fully tatted gang age males?
plasticmonkey
You're right. I should have realized that earlier. Everything is zero sum.
plasticmonkey
Good question.
And why are so many of them escaping from lunatic asylums?