Federal judge temporarily blocks Trump’s ability to quickly deport noncitizens under Alien Enemies Act

(CNN) — A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s ability to use a sweeping wartime authority to quickly deport some migrants whom the US has accused of being affiliated with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

The judge also ordered any planes in the air carrying some of those migrants to turn back to the US.

Earlier Saturday, the Trump administration invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which gives the president tremendous authority to target and remove undocumented immigrants, to speed up the deportations of migrants. The law is designed to be invoked if the US is at war with another country, or a foreign nation has invaded the US or threatened to do so.

US District Judge James Boasberg had blocked the administration from deporting five individuals who challenged President Donald Trump’s use of the act. Following a hastily scheduled hearing hours later, Boasberg broadened his temporary block on the administration, granting a request from the plaintiffs’ lawyers to certify a provisional class that covers all noncitizens in US custody who would be subject to Trump’s proclamation.

Boasberg, who serves as the chief judge of the federal trial-level court in Washington, DC, agreed that those individuals’ deportations should also be temporarily blocked while the legal challenge proceeds.

“Particularly given the plaintiffs’ information, unrebutted by the government, that flights are actively departing and planning to depart, I do not believe that I’m able to wait any longer,” Boasberg continued. “Any plane containing these folks that is going to take off or is in the air needs to be returned to the United States.”

The judge said the temporary restraining order will remain in effect for 14 days “or until further order of the court.” He set another hearing in the case for later this month.

“I think there’s clearly irreparable harm here given these folks will be deported,” Boasberg said. “A brief delay in their removal does not cause the government any harm.”

The Justice Department has appealed Boasberg’s decisions to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.

In a presidential proclamation, released earlier Saturday, the White House cited its designation of Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization, saying many of them have “unlawfully infiltrated the United States and are conducting irregular warfare and undertaking hostile actions against the United States.”

The proclamation called for all those subject to the measure to be immediately arrested, detained, and removed.

The Alien Enemies Act has been invoked three times in US history – all during war – according to the Brennan Center. During World Wars I and II, it was used to justify detentions and expulsions of German, Austro-Hungarian, Italian and Japanese immigrants. The law played a role in the infamous US policy of Japanese internment during World War II, according to the non-partisan law and policy institute.

The federal judge’s initial Saturday ruling came after a request to the judge from the American Civil Liberties Union and Democracy Forward hours before the order — the groups argued there may not be enough time to intervene after Trump issued it.

The ACLU argued in its filing that the gang has not engaged in an invasion “because criminal activity does not meet the longstanding definitions of those statutory requirements.”

This story has been updated with additional details.

CNN’s Devan Cole and Shania Shelton contributed to this report.

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