White House Denies Violating Judge’s Order in Deporting Venezuelans

The Trump administration denied on Sunday that it had violated a court order by deporting hundreds of Venezuelan immigrants to a prison in El Salvador over the weekend, saying that the president had broad powers to quickly expel them under an 18th-century law meant for wartime.

The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, also asserted in a statement that the federal courts “have no jurisdiction” over the president’s conduct of foreign affairs or his power to expel foreign enemies.

“A single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft carrier full of foreign alien terrorists who were physically expelled from U.S. soil,” she said in a statement. It was unclear why she referred to an aircraft carrier, because all indications were that the Venezuelans had been flown to El Salvador.

While White House officials exulted over what they see as a precedent-setting victory in their efforts to speed up deportations, the comments also tacitly acknowledge that the court battles over their legal rationale may be just beginning.

President Trump signed an executive order on Friday invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to rapidly arrest and deport those the administration identifies as members of the Tren de Aragua gang without many of the legal processes common in immigration cases. The enemies law allows for summary deportations of people from countries at war with the United States.

On Saturday, Judge James E. Boasberg of Federal District Court in Washington issued a temporary restraining order blocking the government from deporting any immigrants under the law after Mr. Trump’s order invoking it.