‘Most extreme measure yet’: Trump invokes wartime law to deport migrants to infamous mega-prison

More than 200 alleged members of a Venezuelan gang have been deported by the US and sent to El Salvador after President Donald Trump invoked a law last used during World War II.

Trump issued an order to rapidly deport accused members of the Tren de Aragua transnational criminal organisation, arguing he had a right to declare them “alien enemies” under a wartime act.

A day later, the move was blocked by a federal judge, saying that the 1798 Alien Enemies Act refers to “hostile acts” perpetrated by another country that are “commensurate to war”. Flights were in the air at the time of the ruling.

Alleged Venezuelan gang members deported from the US arrive at El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Centre on Sunday.Credit: El Salvador presidential press office via AP

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele announced that 238 alleged members of the drug gang had arrived early on Sunday and had been transferred to his country’s infamous CECOT mega-prison.

“Oopsie ... too late,” Bukele posted in a mocking response to the court ruling.

Sharing footage of the plane landing, he congratulated the operation. “The United States will pay a very low fee for them, but a high one for us,” he wrote on X.

The timing of the flight is unclear, but it was believed to be under way before the US judge’s order.

The Terrorism Confinement Centre is the crown jewel of El Salvador’s aggressive anti-crime strategy. Visits, recreation and education are not allowed.Credit: El Salvador PPO via AP

The law requires a president to declare the US is at war and allows the leader to detain or deport citizens of an enemy nation who otherwise would have protections under immigration or criminal laws.

It has been invoked three times: during the War of 1812, World War I and – most famously – between 1942 and 1946 during World War II to intern some 120,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans.

Trump, who has promised Americans he would carry out mass deportations of undocumented migrants, is now using the act to target Tren de Aragua. His administration will pay El Salvador $US6 million ($9.4 million) to imprison about 300 people for one year, according to the Associated Press.

The White House declared on Saturday that Tren de Aragua – known for kidnapping, extortion and contract killings – was closely linked to the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

“The result is a hybrid criminal state that is perpetrating an invasion of and predatory incursion into the United States,” the presidential statement said.

Trump claimed that Tren de Aragua was “conducting irregular warfare against the territory of the United States both directly and at the direction, clandestine or otherwise, of the Maduro regime”.

The statement gives Attorney-General Pam Bondi days to enact the ruling, making all Tren de Aragua members “subject to immediate apprehension, detention and removal”.

It will apply to all members who are over the age of 14 and not naturalised US citizens or lawful permanent residents. The Trump administration has not identified the migrants, provided any evidence they are members of the gang or that they committed any crimes in the US, the AP said.

The Venezuelan government condemned the move, calling it “illegal and in violation of human rights, against our migrants”, adding its “profound indignation at the threat of kidnapping 14-year-old children”.

Civil rights groups and some Democrats have criticised the move to revive it to fuel mass deportations.

“The Trump administration’s intent to use a wartime authority for immigration enforcement is as unprecedented as it is lawless,” said Lee Gelernt of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

“It may be the administration’s most extreme measure yet, and that is saying a lot,” said Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project and lead counsel.

The temporary block of any deportations under the Alien Enemies Act will last for 14 days while Judge James Boasberg considers the legality of the order.

Bondi said in a statement that the ruling “disregards well-established authority regarding President Trump’s power, and it puts the public and law enforcement at risk”.

The White House has until Monday (Tuesday AEDT) to file a motion if it wants to overturn the pause, and failing that the next hearing will be on March 21, the court order said.

The Telegraph, London

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.