According to BBC News: The White House has denied breaking the law after being accused of ignoring a judge’s order to stop deportations. Over the weekend, 261 people, including 238 alleged Venezuelan gang members and 23 alleged members of the MS-13 gang, were deported from the United States to El Salvador.
The deportation happened despite a judge’s temporary order to halt the process. However, the White House argued that the judge’s order came too late, as the deportees had already left. The administration also claimed that the order itself was not lawful.
President Trump said that the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua (TdA), was threatening the United States. He used the Alien Enemies Act, a law from 1798, to justify the deportation. This law allows the US to deport non-citizens during times of war or invasion. However, rights groups criticized this move, saying the law was wrongly applied.
Judge James Boasberg had issued the pause order on Saturday evening, but by then, the planes had already taken off. Though he verbally instructed the flights to return, this was not included in his written ruling.
The US Department of Justice also defended the move, saying the deportation happened before the judge’s order. The government has since appealed against the ruling.
Meanwhile, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele confirmed the arrival of the deportees and shared videos of them inside a mega-prison.
Rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Amnesty International, criticized the deportations. They argued that the use of the Alien Enemies Act was unfair and targeted Venezuelans based on unproven gang ties.
Venezuela also criticized the US, saying it was unjustly labeling Venezuelan migrants as criminals.
