A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from using an 18th-century wartime law to accelerate the deportation of Venezuelan gang members, issuing an order to halt flights already carrying deportees out of the country.

U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg’s order halted deportations for at least 14 days and directed that flights already in the air be turned around.

Why It Matters

The ruling represents a significant legal hurdle for the Trump administration’s effort to expand executive powers in immigration enforcement. The Alien Enemies Act has been used only three times in U.S. history, with its last application during World War II to detain individuals from enemy nations. The administration’s decision to invoke the law for deporting alleged gang members rather than individuals from an adversarial state has raised legal and constitutional questions.

What To Know

Boasberg issued the ruling Saturday after determining that immediate action was necessary as the government had already begun removing individuals under President Donald Trump‘s executive proclamation. The administration had invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a rarely used statute, to bypass standard immigration proceedings and fast-track deportations.

Trump’s proclamation, issued just before the court ruling, labeled the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua as an imminent threat to the United States. “Over the years, Venezuelan national and local authorities have ceded ever-greater control over their territories to transnational criminal organizations, including TdA,” the proclamation stated. “The result is a hybrid criminal state that is perpetrating an invasion of and predatory incursion into the United States, and which poses a substantial danger.”

Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign argued that the president had broad authority to determine threats to national security and act under the 1798 law. He pointed to a precedent from 1948 when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the detention of a German citizen under the act.

The administration had begun deporting individuals it identified as gang members without going through standard immigration proceedings. El Salvador had already agreed to accept up to 300 deportees under the order, according to government sources.

What People Are Saying

Attorney General Pam Bondi said: “This order disregards well-established authority regarding President Trump’s power, and it puts the public and law enforcement at risk.”

U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg said: “I do not believe I can wait any longer and am required to act … A brief delay in their removal does not cause the government any harm.”

What Happens Next

A hearing is scheduled for Friday to determine whether the injunction will be extended.

This article contains reporting from The Associated Press