The Trump administration deported more than 200 people who it says are members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan prison gang, to El Salvador this weekend, multiple members of the administration said on social media on Sunday.
It was not immediately clear if the deportations happened before or after a federal judge in D.C. on Saturday issued an emergency order that told the administration to stop using wartime powers to deport people, and turn around any planes already in the air.
President Trump on Saturday issued a proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 against Tren de Aragua. The seldom-used law gives the president authority to detain or deport nationals of an enemy nation during wartime or invasion. It’s the first time the act has been used since World War II.
The deportations to El Salvador also included two alleged leaders of the MS-13 gang, which wasn’t included in Saturday’s action, and 21 other members of the gang, according to posts from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and from El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele.
MS-13 started in Los Angeles in the 1980s, but many of its members also operate in El Salvador and the Trump administration has also designated it as a foreign terrorist organization.
“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,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. More here