Trump Deported Alleged Gang Members. A Court Ordered Him Not to

The Trump administration deported to El Salvador hundreds of immigrants it accused of being members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang or MS-13, and the deportations may have taken place after a court explicitly ordered they be halted and any planes in the air turn around.

On Friday, Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 law that allows summary deportations of individuals hailing from nations at war with the U.S., to deport alleged Tren de Aragua members. The Alien Enemies Act has only ever been used in war, including during World War II to intern Japanese Americans.

“As President of the United States and Commander in Chief, it is my solemn duty to protect the American people from the devastating effects of this invasion,” Trump said in the Friday statement.

Responding to a lawsuit filed Saturday by The American Civil Liberties Union and Democracy Forward seeking to block the deportations of five Venezuelans for two weeks, Judge James Boasberg ordered their deportations be halted and later expanded the order to include anyone covered by Trump’s Alien Enemies Act declaration. According to NPR, another hearing in the case will take place March 21.

It is not yet clear whether the deportations happened before or after Boasberg issued the temporary restraining order. The judge wrote that the Alien Enemies Act “does not provide a basis for the president’s proclamation given that the terms invasion, predatory incursion really relate to hostile acts perpetrated by any nation and commensurate to war.”

“This proclamation is as lawless as anything the Trump administration has done,” ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt said in an interview with Reuters. “We are on very dangerous ground when the administration is going to try to use wartime authority, when we’re at peace, for immigration purposes or any other non-military purpose.”

The Trump administration brokered a deal with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele who agreed to take the immigrants and hold them in a notorious mega-prison, the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), for one year with the possibility to renew. “The Republic of El Salvador confirms it will house these individuals for one (1) year, pending the United States’ decision on their long term disposition,” said a memo from El Salvador’s ministry of foreign affairs that was obtained by The Associated Press.

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In a social media post, Bukele shared a screenshot of a news story on the judge’s ruling, writing, “Oopsie… Too late 😂.” Bukele also posted a video showing immigrants in chains being marched off a plane in El Salvador with their heads down before entering custody where prison guards shaved their heads and ordered them into a cell.

“We have sent 2 dangerous top MS-13 leaders plus 21 of its most wanted back to face justice in El Salvador,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X (formerly Twitter). “Also, as promised by @POTUS, 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.”
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The U.S. agreed to pay El Salvador $20,000 per prisoner to hold them for a year and, per the AP, a State Department document suggested the government has another $15 million available to pay for additional gang members to be imprisoned there. Bukele said in February that he would accept deportees from any country to hold in the Salvadoran prison system.

Tren de Aragua is a Venezuelan criminal organization associated with violence, including robberies, kidnappings and contract killings. Because of Venezuela’s failing economy, the gang has expanded operations to other countries in recent years. The Biden administration last year designated Tren de Aragua as a transnational criminal organization. On Trump’s first day in office, his White House declared the gang was a foreign terrorist organization. MS-13 is a gang created by Salvadoran immigrants to the U.S. The Justice Department describes the gang as “well-organized and… heavily involved in lucrative illegal enterprises, being notorious for its use of violence to achieve its objectives.”