Trump claims sweeping power to deport migrants 鈥� as legal fight escalates
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Sarah Matusek Staff writer
Over the weekend, the United States launched into its latest showdown over presidential power.
Following a campaign pledge, President Donald Trump invoked an 18th century wartime law that he says gives him power to deport dangerous immigrants 鈥� in this case, Venezuelans he accuses of belonging to a notorious gang. Late Saturday, a federal judge issued an order blocking the administration from carrying out the deportations.
But by Sunday it became clear that had been taken to El Salvador, raising questions about whether the administration had defied the judge鈥檚 order.
Why We Wrote This
To aid his deportation campaign, President Trump has invoked a 1798 law 鈥媡hat was last used for World War II internments.鈥� Questions swirled about whether he had defied a court order in sending more than 100 people to an El Salvador prison.
Beyond questions of compliance, the administration made clear it disagreed strongly with the judge鈥檚 ruling, and is doubling down in its latest claim to expansive executive authority. Future rulings in its favor could further pave the way for mass deportation plans.
The invoked law is 鈥渁n extreme measure,鈥� says Kevin Kenny, immigration historian at New York University. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not actually clear what the courts will make of this.鈥�
The law at issue is the of 1798. It allows the president in wartime to proclaim male immigrants aged 14 and older 鈥渓iable to be apprehended, restrained, secured and removed, as alien enemies.鈥� The rarely invoked law was last used to detain people of Japanese, Italian, and German descent during World War II. Campaigning in Colorado this past fall, Mr. Trump against migrant criminal networks.
Now, President Trump has followed through. He dated Friday, invoking the Alien Enemies Act to apprehend and deport suspected Venezuelan members of the criminal group Tren de Aragua. The proclamation claims that an unspecified number are 鈥渃onducting irregular warfare and undertaking hostile actions against the United States.鈥�
The document, which a White House website indicates was posted Saturday, says the group has 鈥渋nvaded鈥� the U.S. Mr. Trump has used this language to describe illegal immigration broadly.
On Saturday, the American Civil Liberties Union and Democracy Forward the Trump administration in anticipation of the president invoking the wartime act against detained Venezuelans to deport them. Judge James Boasberg ultimately issued a temporary restraining order blocking the government from doing so.
Trump administration officials called the judge鈥檚 ruling an outrageous abuse of power.
The judge 鈥渟upported Tren de Aragua terrorists over the safety of Americans,鈥� said Attorney General Pam Bondi in a . She added that the order disregarded 鈥渨ell-established authority regarding President Trump鈥檚 power.鈥� Several Republican lawmakers echoed the administration鈥檚 criticisms. GOP Rep. Brandon Gill of Texas that he planned to file articles of impeachment against the 鈥渁ctivist judge鈥� this week.
However, it appears that many Venezuelan immigrants were deported anyway. On Sunday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on X that, over the weekend, the Department of Homeland Security arrested 鈥渘early 300 Tren de Aragua terrorists,鈥� who were 鈥渞emoved to El Salvador.鈥�
Judge Boasberg on Saturday that any outbound planes needed to turn around. The lack of clarity over the deportations鈥� timing stirred debate over whether the Trump administration was openly defying the judicial branch.
Ms. Leavitt said that the judge鈥檚 order was issued after 鈥渢errorist TdA aliens had already been removed from U.S. territory,鈥� Axios , and she contends that the administration 鈥渄id not 鈥榬efuse to comply.鈥欌��
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele Sunday that 鈥渢he first 238 members鈥� of TdA had arrived and were transferred to a 鈥渇or a period of one year (renewable).鈥� Secretary of State Marco Rubio also that the U.S. had entered into an arrangement by which El Salvador would hold the suspected TdA members 鈥渋n their very good jails at a fair price.鈥�
The government has appealed the judge鈥檚 order. The Monitor has reached out to spokespeople at the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement for comment.
have decried the government鈥檚 actions this weekend as a step toward authoritarianism. The court order, if actually 鈥渄efied,鈥� marks the 鈥渟tart of a true constitutional crisis,鈥� national security attorney Mark Zaid on X.
Immigrant advocates are also sounding the alarm over the apparent denial of due process, which . The ACLU has said that some of the Venezuelans being targeted by the administration have no involvement with TdA gang activity, and are seeking asylum.
Mr. Trump鈥檚 proclamation 鈥渞ecalls some of the most shameful parts of U.S. history,鈥� and could 鈥渁bsolutely trample any semblance of due process and civil rights鈥� for Venezuelans, said Mekela Goehring, executive director of Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, in a statement.
The extent of TdA鈥檚 footprint in the United States is debated. The Biden administration, which TdA a transnational criminal organization, began reporting Border Patrol encounters with suspected affiliates in March 2023.
This past December, the head of INTERPOL Washington that TdA had 鈥渆merged as a significant threat to the United States as it infiltrates migration flows from Venezuela.鈥� The Trump administration has TdA as a foreign terrorist organization.
Local and federal law enforcement have linked suspected TdA members to violent crimes . However, the criteria for determining those affiliations is not always clear. Suspected members and their families have officials鈥� claims of TdA ties.
Editor鈥檚 note: This story has been updated to clarify that the document invoking the Alien Enemies Act was a presidential proclamation.
