WASHINGTON, March 16. /TASS/. A DC court has ordered a halt to the mass deportation of immigrants from the US under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 and mandated the return of all flights carrying deportees, Politico reported.
According to the newspaper, Judge James Boasberg ordered a suspension of migrant expulsions while the court reviews the legal validity of US President Donald Trump's use of the 18th-century law. The Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which has been invoked only three times in US history, is intended for the swift removal of foreign nationals during wartime. The temporary ban on deportations will remain in effect for 14 days.
"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. <...> Make sure it's complied with immediately," the publication quoted the judge as saying.
At least two planes carrying immigrants leaving Texas were already approaching their destinations in El Salvador and Honduras when the court issued its ruling, he said.
Earlier, Trump signed a proclamation relying on the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which orders the immediate apprehension, detention and expulsion from the US of members of Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal group formed in Venezuela.