<p>Washington: A Trump administration official on Tuesday defended the deportation of Venezuelans after a judge temporarily banned removing people from the United States under an 18th-century law, writing that they were being deported on other bases. </p><p>US District Judge James Boasberg in Washington, DC, on Saturday imposed a two-week halt to deportations under a proclamation by President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to declare that the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua was conducting irregular warfare against the United States.</p>.Judge demands answers of Trump administration in Venezuela deportation case.<p>The judge on Monday asked Justice Department lawyers to answer questions on when exactly Trump's proclamation took effect and when the deportation flights to El Salvador took off, amid concerns that the Republican president is further pushing the boundaries of executive power and setting up a potential constitutional clash with the judiciary.</p><p>In a court filing on Tuesday responding to Boasberg's request, Department of Homeland Security official Robert Cerna said three planes carrying deportees departed for El Salvador on Saturday after Trump's order was posted on the White House website that afternoon. </p><p>Only one of those flights departed after Boasberg's two-week ban hit the public court docket at 7:25 p.m. on Saturday, Cerna wrote in a sworn declaration. Cerna said everyone aboard that plane had separate removal orders, and thus were not deported under the Alien Enemies Act alone. </p>
<p>Washington: A Trump administration official on Tuesday defended the deportation of Venezuelans after a judge temporarily banned removing people from the United States under an 18th-century law, writing that they were being deported on other bases. </p><p>US District Judge James Boasberg in Washington, DC, on Saturday imposed a two-week halt to deportations under a proclamation by President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to declare that the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua was conducting irregular warfare against the United States.</p>.Judge demands answers of Trump administration in Venezuela deportation case.<p>The judge on Monday asked Justice Department lawyers to answer questions on when exactly Trump's proclamation took effect and when the deportation flights to El Salvador took off, amid concerns that the Republican president is further pushing the boundaries of executive power and setting up a potential constitutional clash with the judiciary.</p><p>In a court filing on Tuesday responding to Boasberg's request, Department of Homeland Security official Robert Cerna said three planes carrying deportees departed for El Salvador on Saturday after Trump's order was posted on the White House website that afternoon. </p><p>Only one of those flights departed after Boasberg's two-week ban hit the public court docket at 7:25 p.m. on Saturday, Cerna wrote in a sworn declaration. Cerna said everyone aboard that plane had separate removal orders, and thus were not deported under the Alien Enemies Act alone. </p>