Trump invokes 18th century law to speed deportations, judge stalls it hours later

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge barred the Trump administration Saturday from carrying out deportations under a sweeping 18th century law that the president invoked hours earlier to speed removal of Venezuelan gang members from the United States.

U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg said he needed to issue his order immediately because the government already was flying migrants it claimed were newly deportable under President Donald Trump’s proclamation to be incarcerated in El Salvador and Honduras. El Salvador already agreed this week to take up to 300 migrants that the Trump administration designated as gang members.

“I do not believe I can wait any longer and am required to act,” Boasberg said during a Saturday evening hearing in a lawsuit brought by the ACLU and Democracy Forward. “A brief delay in their removal does not cause the government any harm,” he added, noting they remain in government custody but ordering that any planes in the air be turned around.

The ruling came hours after Trump claimed the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua was invading the United States and invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a wartime authority that allows the president broader leeway on policy and executive action to speed up mass deportations.

The act has only ever been used three times before, all during wars. Its most recent application was during World War II, when it was used to incarcerate Germans and Italians as well as for the mass internment of Japanese-American civilians.

In a proclamation released just over an hour before Boasberg's hearing, Trump contended that Tren de Aragua was effectively at war with 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,” Trump’s statement reads. “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 to the United States.”

The order could let the administration deport any migrant it identifies as a member of the gang without going through regular immigration proceedings, and also could remove other protections under criminal law for people the government targeted.

In a statement Saturday night, Attorney General Pam Bondi slammed Boasberg’s stay on deportations. “This order disregards well-established authority regarding President Trump’s power, and it puts the public and law enforcement at risk,” Bondi said.

The Tren de Aragua gang originated in a prison in the South American country and accompanied an exodus of millions of Venezuelans, the overwhelming majority of whom were seeking better living conditions after their nation’s economy came undone last decade. Trump and his allies have turned the gang into the face of the alleged threat posed by immigrants living in the U.S. illegally and formally designated it a “foreign terrorist organization” last month.

Authorities in several countries have reported arrests of Tren de Aragua members, even as Venezuela’s government claims to have eliminated the criminal organization.

The government said Trump actually signed the proclamation on Friday night. Immigration lawyers noticed the federal government suddenly moving to deport Venezuelans who they would not otherwise have the legal right to expel from the country, and scrambled to file lawsuits to block what they believed was a pending proclamation.

Boasberg issued an initial order at 9:20 a.m. Saturday blocking the Trump administration from deporting five Venezuelans named as plaintiffs in the ACLU suit who were being detained by the government and believed they were about to be deported. The Trump administration appealed that order, contending that halting a presidential act before it has been announced would cripple the executive branch.

If the order were allowed to stand, "district courts would have license to enjoin virtually any urgent national-security action just upon receipt of a complaint,” the Justice Department wrote in its appeal.

Boasberg then scheduled the afternoon hearing on whether to expand his order to all people who could be targeted under Trump's declaration.

Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign contended that the president had broad latitude to identify threats to the country and act under the 1798 law. He noted the U.S. Supreme Court allowed President Harry Truman to continue to hold a German citizen in 1948, three years after World War II ended, under the measure.

“This would cut very deeply into the prerogatives of the president,” Ensign said of an injunction.

But Lee Gelernt of the ACLU contended that Trump didn't have the authority to use the law against a criminal gang rather than a recognized state. Boasberg said precedent on that question seemed tricky but that the ACLU had a reasonable chance of success on those arguments, and so the order was merited.

Boasberg halted deportations for those in custody for up to 14 days, and scheduled a Friday hearing in the case.

The flurry of litigation shows the significance of Trump's declaration, the latest step by the administration to expand presidential power. Ensign argued that, as part of its reaction to the Sept. 11, 2001 attack, Congress had given the president power to delegate “transnational” organizations threats on the level of recognized states. And Gelernt warned that the Trump administration could simply issue a new proclamation to use the Alien Enemies Act against another migrant gang, like MS-13, which has long been one of Trump's favorite targets.

Associated Press writer Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report.

FILE - Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks along the southern border with Mexico, on Aug. 22, 2024, in Sierra Vista, Ariz. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, Friday, March 14, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, Friday, March 14, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, Friday, March 14, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

FILE - Henry Carmona, 48, right, who fled Venezuela after receiving death threats for refusing to participate in demonstrations in support of the government, stands with friends and a reporter following a press conference by Venezuelan community leaders to denounce changes to the protections that shielded hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans, including Carmona, from deportation, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, in Doral, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

ROME (AP) — Dozens of children toting yellow and white balloons — many from war-torn countries — gathered outside Rome’s Gemelli hospital to greet Pope Francis on his fifth Sunday hospitalized with double pneumonia.

While the pope did not appear from the 10th-floor suite of windows, he thanked them and acknowledged their presence in the traditional Sunday blessing.

“I know that many children are praying for me; some of them came here today to Gemelli as a sign of closeness,’’ the pontiff said in the Angelus text prepared for the traditional prayer but not delivered live again. “Thank you, dearest children! The pope loves you and is always waiting to meet you,’’ Francis said.

The Rev. Enzo Fortunato, president of the pontifical committee for World Children's Day who organized the event, said that the gathering of children with their parents was a form of spiritual medicine for the 88-year-old pontiff. He called it ‘’the most beautiful caress.’’

“The children represent a symbolic medicine for Pope Francis,’’ Fortunato said. ‘’Letting him know that so many children are here for him cheers the heart.’’

A small group of children, whose balloons represented the colors of the Vatican flag, briefly entered the hospital to leave behind their drawings, messages and flowers for Francis. Many of the children came from poorer Italian districts or from countries impacted by war, some having arrived in Italy from Afghanistan and Syria via humanitarian corridors set up by the Sant’Egidio charity in agreement with the Italian government; others were from Ukraine, Gaza, South America and Africa.

One of them was 12-year-old Anastasia, who got up at 5 a.m. to make the trip from Naples with the hopes of delivering the message directly to the pope. “I wrote, ‘Pope Francis, get well and return home soon,’” she said. "We love you, all of the children are praying for you.’'

Andrea Iacomini, the spokesman for UNICEF in Italy, said besides demonstrating affection for the pope, the group also wanted to say "enough'' to conflicts that are impacting 500 million children in 59 countries.

"This pope is not just a religious leader, he is a great global leader. A man of peace. This pope is pope of the children.'' Iacomini said.

Francis typically delivers the Angelus from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square to the gathered faithful, who have grown more numerous due to the Jubilee year that Francis inaugurated in December.

In the written text, Francis said he was thinking of others, who like him, are in a fragile state. “Our bodies are weak, but even like this, nothing can prevent us from loving, praying, giving ourselves, being for each other, in faith, shining signs of hope,’’ the pope said.

Along with a stop at St. Peter’s to seek indulgences by walking through the basilica’s Holy Door, pilgrims are now also adding a stop at Gemelli, a 15-minute train ride from the Vatican.

Doctors this week said the pontiff was no longer in critical, life-threatening condition, but they have continued to emphasize that his condition remained complex due to his age, lack of mobility and the loss of part of a lung as a young man.

Still, they are issuing fewer medical bulletins as the pontiff has been on an upward trajectory. An X-ray this week confirmed that the infection was clearing.

Francis has not been seen publicly since he was admitted to the hospital Feb. 14 after a bout of bronchitis that made it difficult for him to speak. Doctors soon added a diagnosis of double pneumonia and a polymicrobial (bacterial, viral and fungal) infection.

The first three weeks of his hospitalization were marked by a rollercoaster of setbacks, including respiratory crises, mild kidney failure and a severe coughing fit.

Doctors in the most recent medical update on Saturday said they were working to reduce the pope’s nighttime reliance on the non-invasive ventilation mask, which will allow his lungs to work more.

Doctors underlined that while the pope’s condition is stable, he still requires hospitalization for treatment along with physical and respiratory therapy, which are “showing further gradual improvements,” the Vatican said Saturday in the first medical update in three days.

The next update won’t be issued until mid-week, the Vatican said.

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Associated Press video journalist Francesca Primavilla contributed to this report.

Faithful pray for Pope Francis outside the Agostino Gemelli polyclinic in Rome, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Faithful pray for Pope Francis outside the Agostino Gemelli polyclinic in Rome, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Faithful pray for Pope Francis outside the Agostino Gemelli polyclinic in Rome, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Balloons with the colours of the Vatican flag are reflected on the windows of the Agostino Gemelli polyclinic as faithful pray for Pope Francis in Rome, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

A balloon released by faithful flies near windows of the Agostino Gemelli polyclinic as people gather to pray for Pope Francis in Rome, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Faithful pray for Pope Francis outside the Agostino Gemelli polyclinic in Rome, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Faithful pray in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, during a vigil rosary for the recovery of Pope Francis, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Rosaries are seen next to a drawing of Pope Francis outside the Agostino Gemelli polyclinic in Rome, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Samantha Brasini, of Italy, kneels in front of the statue of Pope John Paul II as she prays for Pope Francis outside the Agostino Gemelli polyclinic in Rome, Italy, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

People pray for Pope Francis in front of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic, in Rome, Saturday, March 15, 2025, where the Pontiff is hospitalized since Feb. 14. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)