A federal judge in Texas ruled on Thursday that the Trump administration's recent deportations of Venezuelan immigrants were unlawful and blocked further deportations.
President Donald Trump deported the Venezuelan nationals to a maximum security prison in El Salvador in March. He invoked the Alien Enemies Act, an 18th-century law that allows for the deportation of citizens from foreign countries that are at war with the United States. The U.S. is not at war with Venezuela, but Trump danced around this by claiming that the gang Tren de Aragua was a sovereign nation that was invading the country.
