WASHINGTON – Trump administration officials announced Sunday deportations of hundreds immigrants the White House are claiming to be members of a Venezuelan gang in El Salvador under the Wartime Alien Enemies Act after a judge temporarily blocked the effort Saturday.
“The president invoked this authority to deport almost 300 of them who are currently in El Salvador, where they will be behind bars, where they belong, rather than moving freely in American communities,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in an interview on Fox News' “Sunday Morning Futures.”
Added Vice President JD Vance in an article on On Sunday evening, President Donald Trump deported “violent criminals and rapists.”
It is not clear how the government determined the nearly 300 men were part of the gang or whether they were heard in a U.S. court or immigration hearings, because the Alien Enemies Act allows the government to deport certain nationals in wartime without a trial.
A judge on Saturday ordered any deportation flights carrying anyone subject to the presidential proclamation to return to the United States if they were currently on flight. The ruling, however, does not apply to migrants who had already arrived in foreign countries before the court order or those facing removal from the country for reasons separate from Trump's proclamation.
The government said Sunday afternoon that “certain gang members eligible for removal under the Proclamation had already been removed from the territory of the United States” before the court order was issued.
It's not clear, however, whether any of the deportees had already landed in El Salvador before the judge's ruling or whether the Trump administration defied the order.
Leavitt denied in a statement Sunday that the White House had defied the court order and said the judge's ruling banning all deportation flights under Trump's proclamation came after “terrorist aliens (Tren De Aragua) had already been deported from U.S. territory.”
“The written order and the administration’s actions are not in conflict,” Leavitt said. “Moreover, as the Supreme Court has repeatedly made clear, federal courts generally have no jurisdiction over the President's conduct of foreign affairs, over his authorities under the Alien Enemies Act, and over his primary powers under Article II to expel foreign terrorists from U.S. soil and repel a declared invasion.”
The plaintiffs submitted a overnight deposit asking the judge to order the government to provide more details on the timing of the flights and the transfer of custody of the deportees.
Two senior Trump administration officials told NBC News they expect the court battle over the president's use of the Alien Enemies Act to ultimately head to the Supreme Court, where they believe the administration will win.
Trump on Saturday invoked the Foreign Enemies Act of 1798, a rarely used authority, in an effort to deport immigrants he accused of being members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang. But before its proclamation, the American Civil Liberties Union and Democracy Forward filed a lawsuit, claiming the administration was preparing to use the Alien Enemies Act to deport five Venezuelan men.
A federal judge initially issued a temporary restraining order to block the administration from deporting the five men under the Alien Enemies Act, then blocked its use for expulsions of all non-U.S. citizens who were in custody and subject to Trump's proclamation.
“Any plane containing these people that takes off or is in flight must be returned to the United States,” James Boasberg, chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Washington, DC, said Saturday. “These people need to be returned to the United States. »
Two flights carrying Venezuelans were in transit at the time of the judge's decision, according to a source close to the case. NBC News could not confirm whether flights were turned around following the order.
A blue “Global Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele released a video on X on Sunday that appeared to show several deportees being taken from a blue “Global X” plane and placed in the custody of heavily armed Salvadoran authorities.
NBC News cannot confirm whether the flights that landed in El Salvador carrying Venezuelans were the two flights that were in flight at the time of the judge's order.
In the overnight filing, the plaintiffs also highlighted two Global
Lee Gelernt, a lawyer defending the ACLU's case, said Sunday that his team had asked “the government to assure the court that no one was deported” in violation of the order. The government had not responded by early afternoon, Gelernt said.
Stephen Gillers, a law professor at New York University, said that if the administration is allowed to violate a court order with “impunity,” the nation could be headed for a constitutional crisis.
“Now that Congress has shown itself to be submissive to the wishes of the White House, the judiciary is the final check on the president's exercise of autocratic power,” Gillers said. “The question facing the country is whether judges will use their contempt and other powers to resist eliminating checks and balances to protect the rule of law. »
Trump administration officials touted the deportations on Sunday. Secretary of State Marco Rubio thanked Bukele, saying in a statement that he “volunteered to imprison these violent criminals.” Rubio said “hundreds of violent criminals have been removed from our country.”
Leavitt also praised the expulsions of
Neither Rubio nor Leavitt's statements referenced the judge's order or clarified whether the administration was complying with it.
Rubio also discussed his desire to “get rid of the Tren de Aragua members” in an interview with CBS News' “Face the Nation.”
Asked about the arrest of activist Mahmoud Khalil and whether only people expressing support for the Palestinians could have their visas revoked, Rubio highlighted the measures taken against the Tren de Aragua.
“We want to get rid of the members of the Tren de Aragua gang. They are also terrorists,” Rubio said. “The president designated them – asked me to designate them and I did, as a terrorist organization. We want to get rid of them too.”
Bukele said Sunday X that 238 members of the Tren de Aragua arrived in the country “today”. The United States also deported 23 MS-13 members to El Salvador, Bukele added. Also Sunday, Bukele posted an image of a headline about the judge's order, writing “Oopsie… Too late” with a laughing emoji.
