Trump administration deports hundreds under sweeping wartime authority despite judge’s pause
By Alison Main and Michael Rios, CNN
Updated 1:43 PM EDT, Sun March 16, 2025
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The Trump administration said Sunday that hundreds of individuals were deported from the country after President Donald Trump invoked a sweeping wartime authority to speed up the deportations of migrants affiliated with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
The announcement comes after a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s ability to use the Alien Enemies Act, which has only been used three times before, on Saturday evening, and ordered any planes in the air carrying some of those migrants to turn back to the US. The judge said the temporary restraining order will remain in effect for 14 days “or until further order of the court.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that at the president’s direction, the Department of Homeland Security had arrested nearly 300 members of Tren de Aragua over the weekend, after Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced earlier Sunday that “hundreds of violent criminals were sent out of our country” after Trump took action on Saturday.
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