A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from using an obscure, 227-year-old law designed primarily for use in wartime to deport five Venezuelan nationals from the US.
District judge James Boasberg, responding to a lawsuit brought by two civil liberties organizations, issued an immediate halt and ordered any planes already in the air be turned around, saying the government was already was flying migrants it claimed were newly deportable to be incarcerated in El Salvador and Honduras.
Hour earlier, Donald Trump invoked the wartime Alien Enemies Act of 1798, saying Venezuelan members of gang Tren de Aragua had âunlawfully infiltrated the United States and are conducting irregular warfare and undertaking hostile actions against the United Statesâ.
Hereâs more on the key US politics news of the day:
Alien Enemies Act used only three times in history, including during two world wars
In the lawsuit against the Alien Enemies Act, the ACLU and Democracy Forward argued the act has been invoked only three times in the history of the US: the war of 1812, first world war and second world war.
âIt cannot be used here against nationals of a country â Venezuela â with whom the United States is not at war, which is not invading the United States and which has not launched a predatory incursion into the United States,â the lawsuit stated.
âThe governmentâs proclamation would allow agents to immediately put noncitizens on planes without any review of any aspect of the determination that they are alien enemies,â the lawsuit added.
The president had previously ordered his administration to designate Venezuelaâs Tren De Aragua gang as a foreign terrorist organization.
With Trump characterizing the Tren de Aragua gang as a foreign force that is invading the US, civil liberties organizations such as the ACLU feared Trump would use the act âunlawfully during peacetime to accelerate mass deportations, sidestepping the limits of this wartime authority and the procedures and protections in immigration lawâ.
Trump orders airstrikes on Yemen
Donald Trump ordered airstrikes on Yemenâs capital, Sanaâa, on Saturday, days after Iranian-backed Houthi rebels said they would resume attacks on Israeli vessels sailing in waters off Yemen in response to Israelâs blockade on Gaza.
The US president promised to use âoverwhelming lethal forceâ until the Houthis cease their attacks on shipping along a vital maritime corridor.
At least 13 civilians were killed and nine injured in the US strikes on Sanaâa, the Houthi-run health ministry said on Saturday evening.
Trump order to end DEI support is allowed to proceed on appeal
The Trump administration has succeeded in one legal battle to end government support for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, after an appeals court lifted a block on executive orders seeking to roll back DEI support.
Two of the judges on the fourth US circuit court of appeals wrote that Trumpâs anti-DEI push could eventually raise concerns about first amendment rights but said the judgeâs sweeping block went too far.
Voice of America employees put on administrative leave
On Saturday, government-employed journalists at Voice of America (VoA) were put on administrative leave, a day after Trump signed an order eliminating the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), VoAâs parent company, along with six other federal agencies.
Reporters at VoA were placed on âadministrative leave with full pay and benefits until otherwise notifiedâ, according to an internal memo obtained by the Hill, adding that it is ânot being done for any disciplinary purposeâ.
It comes a day after VoAâs parent moved to terminate contracts with the Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse, and told its journalists on Friday to stop using material from the wire services.
Analysis: can Trump push Putin into peace?
Vladimir Putin says he accepts the idea of a ceasefire in Ukraine, albeit with a few ânuancesâ. But Putinâs so-called nuances are bigger than mere wrinkles, and at the end of an intense week of diplomacy around Russiaâs war in Ukraine, a ceasefire â never mind a sustainable peace â still looks to be something of a distant prospect.
While Trump has proved very willing to pile the pressure on Volodymyr Zelenskyy, his ability or desire to force concessions out of Putin are less clear. The decisive question will be whether or not Trump is ready to really push Moscow when the scale of Putinâs ânuancesâ becomes clear.
Tesla bears brunt of peopleâs ire against Musk
As the protests against Elon Muskâs role in Trumpâs administration have multiplied, so has vandalism against Teslaâs brick-and-mortar business and individual vehicles.
The Guardian has tracked at least three separate incidents involving molotov cocktails, the coordinated theft of nearly 50 Tesla tires and spray-painted swastikas on Tesla facilities from New York to New Mexico. Nearly 20 Tesla showrooms and charging stations have seen deliberate fires set, while dozens of owners have had their cars egged, pooped on and hit with Kraft cheese singles.
Pete Hegseth pushes his beliefs on Pentagon
The Department of Defense is already rapidly transforming into the image of Trumpâs secretary, Pete Hegseth, with many of the rants and opinions common during Hegsethâs Fox News career coming to policy fruition.
âWhat are we seeing in the Pentagon right now? What are we hearing about the future of warfare? What are we hearing about the transformation that is necessary, right now, as we come out of the last two decades of warfighting?â said the retired Brig Gen Paul Eaton, a veteran of the Iraq war. âWeâre hearing of DEI purging.â
What else happened today:
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At least 32 people have died after tornadoes ripped through parts of the US, wiping out schools and toppling semitractor-trailers in several states, with more violent storms expected.
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Travel restrictions are being considered for the citizens of dozens of countries as part of a new ban, according to sources familiar with the matter and an internal memo seen by Reuters.