"Socalj" for Borderland Beat
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Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 Saturday to target the designated foreign terrorist organization Tren de Aragua (TdA) just hours after a federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled the law could not be used to deport five Venezuelans.
Soon after the EO was issued, a federal judge blocked any deportations in order to review the application of the law related to the recently FTO designated gang. However, nearly 250 alleged TdA gang members landed in El Salvador as part of the first removals. It is not known and is being determined right now if the planes had been sent prior to the blocked court order.
UPDATE: The federal judge who imposed a block on the deporations questioned a DOJ lawyer over why the two planes did not turn around when he ordered the administration to do so in court. DOJ officials claim the first order was verbal in court and not a written order which was done an hour later after the planes were well on their way.
FlightAware data that showed two planes carrying the deportees were still in the air by the time of the judge's written order at 7:26 p.m. A third plane took off at 7:37 p.m., after the written order was released, they said.
The deportation of hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members has since turned into 126 being TdA gang members and 21 MS-13 gang members and leaders. The remaining 101 Venezuelans being deported for for immigration violations.
Some of those deported may have been charged with crimes, but not necessarily convicted. And some are believed to have had no gang affiliations whatsoever, just immigration issues.
Francisco Javier Garcia was one of the 101 Venezuelans sent to El Salvador. His family said he does not have a criminal record in Venezuela or the United States.
