Trump administration touts deportations under Alien Enemies Act after judge temporarily blocked its use

Trump administration officials Sunday announced the deportations of hundreds of immigrants the White House alleges are members of a Venezuelan gang to El Salvador under the wartime Alien Enemies Act after a judge temporarily blocked the effort Saturday, NBC News reported.

“The president invoked this authority to deport nearly 300 of them who are now in El Salvador, where they will be behind bars where they belong, rather than roaming freely in American communities,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in an interview on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”

Vice President JD Vance added in a post on X Sunday night that 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 had U.S. court hearings or immigration hearings, as the Alien Enemies Act allows the government to deport certain nationals in times of war without trial.

A judge Saturday ordered any deportation flights that were carrying anyone subject to the presidential proclamation to return to the United States if they were currently in flight. The ruling, however, did not apply to migrants who had already landed in foreign countries before the court order or those subject to removal from the country for reasons separate from Trump's proclamation.

The government said in a filing Sunday afternoon that “some gang members subject to removal under the Proclamation had already been removed from United States territory" before the court order was issued.

It is unclear, 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 defied the court order and said the judge's ruling barring all deportation flights under Trump's proclamation was issued after "terrorist [Tren De Aragua] aliens had already been removed from U.S. territory."

“The written order and the Administration’s actions do not 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, his authorities under the Alien Enemies Act, and his core Article II powers to remove foreign alien terrorists from U.S. soil and repel a declared invasion."

Two senior Trump administration officials told NBC News they expect the court fight 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 invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a rarely used authority, on Saturday in an effort to deport immigrants he alleged were members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. But ahead of his proclamation, the American Civil Liberties Union and Democracy Forward filed a lawsuit saying 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 prevent the administration from deporting the five men under the Alien Enemies Act and later blocked its use for deportations of all non-U.S. citizens who were in custody and subject to Trump’s proclamation.

“Any plane containing these folks that is going to take off or is in the air needs to be returned to the United States,” James Boasberg, chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., said Saturday. “Those people need to be returned to the United States.”

Two flights holding Venezuelans were in transit during the judge’s ruling, according to a source familiar with the matter. NBC News could not confirm whether the flights turned around following the order.

A blue “Global X” plane took off from Harlingen, Texas, on Saturday afternoon, landing at El Salvador International Airport about an hour after the judge’s ruling, according to an NBC News analysis of flight tracking databases. El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele posted a video to X on Sunday that appeared to show several deportees being taken off of a blue “Global X” plane and taken into 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 the air at the time of the judge’s order.

Lee Gelernt, a lawyer arguing the case for the ACLU, said Sunday that his team asked “the government to assure the court that nobody was removed” in violation of the order. The government had not responded as of 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 barrel toward a constitutional crisis.

“Now that Congress has shown itself subservient to the wishes of the White House, the judiciary is the last check against the exercise of autocratic power in the president,” Gillers said. “The question before the country is whether the judges will use their contempt and other powers to resist the elimination of checks and balances in order to protect the rule of law.”

Trump administration officials touted the deportations Sunday. Secretary of State Marco Rubio thanked Bukele, saying in a statement that he “has volunteered to imprison these violent criminals.” Rubio said that “hundreds of violent criminals were sent out of our country.”

Leavitt also praised the deportations on X, saying that “thanks to the great work of the Department of State, these heinous monsters were extracted and removed to El Salvador where they will no longer be able to pose any threat to the American People.”

Neither Rubio’s nor Leavitt’s statements referred to the judge’s order or detailed whether the administration was in compliance.

Rubio also referred to wanting to “get rid of 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 who express support for Palestinians could have their visas revoked, Rubio pointed to actions taken against Tren de Aragua.

“We want to get rid of Tren de Aragua gang members. They’re terrorists, too,” Rubio said. “The president designated them — asked me to designate and I did, as a terrorist organization. We want to get rid of them, as well.”

Bukele said Sunday on X that 238 members of 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.

Yamiche Alcindor, Sarah Dean and David Rohde contributed.

This article first appeared on NBCNews.com. Read more from NBC News here:

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