Trump heads toward courts clash over migrant flights; annuls pardons issued by Biden

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump barreled towards a showdown with the courts Monday after his administration expelled alleged members of a Venezuelan gang under little-used, centuries-old wartime legislation.

Trump, already pushing the law to its limits on several fronts, also claimed he had annulled pardons issued by Joe Biden, on the grounds that his Democratic predecessor supposedly used an autopen for his signature.

The Republican's moves to amass power in the executive have increasingly raised fears that he will defy the judiciary, upending or at least reinterpreting the constitutional balance of power in the United States.

A U.S. federal judge ordered a hearing later Monday on whether the White House had deliberately ignored his orders by flying more than 200 people to El Salvador, where the Trump administration is paying the authorities to imprison the deportees.

The White House said the administration would win the case and denied that officials breached the law, saying the deportees had already left the United States when the judge made his order.

"We are wholly confident that we are going to win this case in court," Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told a briefing.

Leavitt argued that the use of the obscure 1798 Alien Enemies Act was justified as Trump had declared members of Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang as a foreign terrorist group.

The law was last used in World War II to intern tens of thousands of Japanese-Americans.

Judge James Boasberg ordered a hearing at 5 p.m. with the administration's lawyers to clarify the situation.

Rights groups have warned the wartime legislation could be used as cover for mass deportations without due process.

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele had posted "Oopsie ... Too late" on social media on Sunday in response to an article on the judge's ruling, adding a crying-with-laughter emoji.

That was then reposted by a senior Trump aide. The White House has also posted footage of detainees in handcuffs being led from a plane to a heavily guarded convoy, and of their heads being shaved upon arrival in El Salvador.

In Venezuela, the head of the parliament, Jorge Rodriguez, called the expulsions "a crime against humanity."

Trump promised a crackdown on undocumented migration during his 2024 election campaign and has repeatedly painted a dark picture of a wave of crimes by migrants that is at odds with official figures.

His administration has increasingly appeared to be spoiling for a legal fight that will end up in the conservative-dominated U.S. Supreme Court, becoming a test case for the extents of executive power.

Annuls pardons issued by Biden

Trump declared Monday he was annulling pardons issued by Joe Biden to shield Trump critics from retribution, claiming that they were invalid because his Democratic predecessor had supposedly used an autopen for his signature.

It was unclear what, if any, authority Trump has to void presidential pardons issued by his predecessor.

It is extremely rare for pardons to be revoked in U.S. history, and doing so in this case could see Trump again testing the limits of executive power as he takes aim at his political enemies.

Trump claimed that Biden's signature on the documents had been carried out with an autopen, a commonly used device, and therefore was not valid.

The pardons "are hereby declared void, vacant, and of no further force or effect, because of the fact they were done by Autopen," Trump posted on his social media account Truth Social.

However, he provided no evidence either for the use of an autopen or his contention that it would invalidate the signature.

U.S. presidents have long used autopens, including to sign bills into law. But Trump and his supporters, such as those linked to the right-wing policy document Project 2025, have sought to turn the issue into a way to delegitimize Biden's presidency.

Biden issued pardons to former senior Republican lawmaker Liz Cheney and other members of the congressional committee that had investigated the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by Trump's supporters and multiple attempts by Trump to overturn the 2020 election in which he lost.

The Biden pardons, issued at the end of his presidency, were effectively a blanket immunity to shield the lawmakers from Trump's repeated promises that he would take revenge against them if he won the 2024 election.

Trump appeared to acknowledge that his action entered disputed legal territory.

Asked by reporters early Monday whether everything Biden signed with an autopen should be voided, Trump said "I think so. It's not my decision, that'll be up to a court."

But he said on Truth Social that the committee members "should fully understand that they are subject to investigation at the highest level."

Experts who spoke to Axios media outlet pointed out that even if Trump were to lose a court challenge over the move, the damage would already have been done, with those he targets being dragged into stressful legal battles.

Biden also issued preemptive pardons to former COVID pandemic adviser Anthony Fauci, retired general Mark Milley, and -- perhaps most controversially -- to close family members including his son Hunter. All of them had become public targets of the incoming Republican president.

Trump has repeatedly promised "retribution" against his political opponents and threatened some with criminal prosecution, and Biden said at the time that he could not "in good conscience do nothing."

On taking office this January, Trump immediately issued multiple pardons to supporters, including to about 1,500 people convicted in the storming of the Capitol building in an attempt to block certification of Biden's election victory on January 6, 2021.

© 2025 AFP