The US administration under Donald Trump deported over 250 alleged gang members, mostly Venezuelans, to El Salvador. This was just hours after a US judge’s ruling to halt the flights on Saturday (March 15). The deportations came after the US president invoked the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 law meant only to be used in wartime.

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El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said 238 members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and 23 members of the Salvadoran gang MS-13 arrived in the country. He said this was under a deal in which Trump would pay the Central American country to keep them in custody. The alleged gang members are to be kept in the country's 40,000-person capacity “terrorism confinement centre”. 

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'A single judge in a single city...'

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The White House defended Trump administration's act, saying the judge had no authority to block the deportation. 

“A single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft ... full of foreign alien terrorists who were physically expelled from US soil,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

She added that the court had “no lawful basis”.

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James Boasberg - the US district attempted to halt the deportation of all the individuals but failed. He even had ordered the deportation flights already in the air to return to the US, but it did not.

'Oopsie … too late'

After this, Bukele took to social media and wrote, “Oopsie … Too late," with a laughing emoji. 

After his post, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio thanked El Salvador’s leader for accepting the deported people. 

Rubio took to the social media platform X and said, “Thank you for your assistance and friendship, President Bukele." 

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"Over 250 alien enemy members of Tren de Aragua which El Salvador has agreed to hold in their very good jails at a fair price that will also save our taxpayer dollars," Rubio added. 

 

Photos and videos of the deportation showed US forces pushing people who were seen handcuffed. Some images and videos also showed the deportation authority members forcefully shaving heads of the individuals.

Deported people were seen held by their neck, all of them wearing white t-shirts and shorts, and being taken out from the deportation planes. They were sent to prison cells. 

Also read: Trump may soon invoke Alien Enemies Act amid his push for mass deportations

(With inpust from agencies)