The ACLU initially filed suit in the nation’s capital to block deportations. U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg issued a temporary hold on removals and ordered the administration turn around planes that had left with detainees headed to El Salvador, a directive that was apparently ignored. Later, the Supreme Court weighed in.

U.S. District Court Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. ruled the Alien Enemies Act, an18th-century wartime law, cannot be used against individuals the Trump administration says are gang members invading

The Trump administration, U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez, Jr., ruled, does not "possess the lawful authority under the (Alien Enemies Act), and based on the Proclamation, to detain Venezuelan aliens,