WASHINGTON — A federal judge has denied the Trump administration’s motion to lift a temporary restraining order that blocks the federal government from using a wartime law to fast-track the deportation of a group of Venezuelan migrants accused of being violent Tren de Aragua gang members.

The decision, issued Monday by Judge James E. Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, set aside the issue of whether the judiciary can halt a president’s directive to remove undocumented migrants under the Alien Enemies Act. Instead, Boasberg focused on the need for the government to prove that the people slated to be deported — in this case to a prison in El Salvador — are in fact “alien enemies” prior to booting them from the country.

“Before they may be deported, they are entitled to individualized hearings to determine whether the Act applies to them at all,” wrote Boasberg. “Because the named Plaintiffs dispute that they are members of Tren de Aragua, they may not be deported until a court has been able to decide the merits of their challenge.”

During a hearing on Friday, Boasberg called President Donald Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act — a wartime law used only three times since it was enacted in 1798, most recently during World War II — to summarily deport alleged Venezuelan gang members “ incredibly troublesome and problematic.” Trump exercised that power hours after issuing an executive order on March 14 declaring that the Nicolas Maduro regime in Venezuela had sent Tren de Aragua gang members into the United States in an “invasion.”

Boasberg issued the temporary restraining order in question on March 15 in response to a lawsuit by five Venezuelans who said they were wrongly accused of being gang members and on the verge of being deported. The order, set for 14 days, prohibits the Trump administration from removing any undocumented migrants solely on the basis of the Alien Enemies Act. Boasberg stressed the narrowness of his ruling, underlining that the government could still remove migrants using the Immigration and Nationality Act, the primary law governing U.S. citizenship.

The order included a demand that the Trump administration turn around planes ferrying 261 detainees to an El Salvador prison. But the planes continued on, raising the question of whether the Trump administration openly defied Boasberg’s directive.

Boasberg wrote in his ruling that the government’s “decision to hastily dispatch flights as legal proceedings were ongoing” was “a move that implied a desire to circumvent judicial review.” He also said the plaintiffs had proven they had good reason to fear torture in El Salvador.

Further, he noted that his ruling didn’t require the government to release any detainees or prevent the government from apprehending accused members of Tren de Aragua — 394 of whom have been arrested since Trump took office, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Later Monday, a D.C. appeals court is set to hear oral arguments in the Trump administration’s efforts to overturn Boasberg’s order — which has become part of a broader dispute between Trump and federal judges who have blocked some of his administration’s efforts to fire federal workers and deport immigrants.

Attorneys for the Department of Justice have have said Boasberg had no authority to issue his injunction. On Sunday, in an interview on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Boasberg is “an out-of-control judge” who is “trying to control our entire foreign policy.” Bondi predicted the case would end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Rep. Jim Jordan, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said he would hold hearings examining Boasberg’s rulings. That follows the president’s call for Boasberg to be impeached, which would require a simple majority in the House but two-thirds support in the U.S. Senate — a likely unattainable benchmark for those who want his ouster.

“It really starts to look like Judge Boasberg is operating purely political against the president,” said Jordan on Fox News Monday.

©2025 Miami Herald. Visit at miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.