'This is war': Trump defends use of Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan gang members

U.S. President Donald Trump has defended his administration’s decision to invoke the Alien Enemies Act to deport over 200 alleged members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang linked to crimes including kidnapping, extortion, and contract killings.

The deportation proceeded despite a court order blocking them, issued by Judge James Boasberg. In an unusual move, the administration defied the ruling, arguing that a judge did not have the authority to halt its actions.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One during a late flight back to Washington from Florida, Trump was asked whether his administration had violated the court order. He declined to comment directly on the legal implications, saying, "I can tell you this, these were bad people," referring to the alleged gang members who were deported to El Salvador, where they were subsequently incarcerated.

Trump justified the use of the wartime law, claiming that the surge in immigration constituted an invasion. “Well, this is a time of war because Biden allowed millions of people, many of them criminals, many of them at the highest level. They emptied jails out of the nations, emptied their jails into the United States. That's an invasion,” he said.