President Donald Trump used the 1798 Alien Enemies Act this past weekend to quickly remove suspected members of the brutal Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang.

The move was controversial and has given rise to allegations that his administration had defied a federal judge's order. 

Judge ordered planes to turn around

As Politico reported, the removal proceedings had been challenged by lawyers who represent some of the several hundred illegal Venezuelan migrants.

In response, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg issued verbal instructions on Saturday which forbade any planes containing the migrants from departing and ordered those which had already taken off to fly back.

"Any plane containing these folks that is going to take off or is in the air needs to be returned to the United States however that is accomplished," Boasberg was quoted as saying during a video hearing.

Yet although Boasberg asserted that his order was to be "complied with immediately," Politico cited flight tracking data showing that the aircraft in question were already nearing their destination. 

The purported gang members were ultimately unloaded in El Salvador, which has worked out an agreement to incarcerate them for a fee.

Press secretary defends Trump's actions

The Daily Mail pointed out how White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a lengthy statement on social media that denied any wrongdoing had taken place.

The Administration did not ‘refuse to comply’ with a court order. The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist TdA aliens had already been removed from U.S. territory. The written order and the Administration’s actions do not conflict. Moreover, as the Supreme… https://t.co/DnjUsuWTLH

— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) March 17, 2025

"The Administration did not ‘refuse to comply’ with a court order. The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist TdA aliens had already been removed from U.S. territory. The written order and the Administration’s actions do not conflict" she wrote.

"Moreover, as the Supreme Court has repeatedly made clear — federal courts generally have no jurisdiction over the President’s conduct of foreign affairs, his authorities under the Alien Enemies Act, and his core Article II powers to remove foreign alien terrorists from U.S. soil and repel a declared invasion," Leavitt asserted.

Trump designates gang as a foreign terror group

"A single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft carrying foreign alien terrorists who were physically expelled from U.S. soil," she went on to add.

This Saturday's expulsion came not long after President Trump signed a proclamation which designated Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization.

It accused Tren de Aragua of "conducting irregular warfare and undertaking hostile actions," including "murders, kidnappings, extortions, and human, drug, and weapons trafficking" as well as "mass illegal migration to the United States."