[Source: Reuters]

A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday upheld a lower court’s temporary block on the Trump administration’s deportation of some Venezuelan immigrants under a little-used 18th century law.

The decision by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit marks a defeat for Republican President Donald Trump, who argued U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s two-week ban on deportations under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act encroached on the executive’s authority to make national security decisions.

A three-judge panel voted 2-1 to uphold Boasberg’s block on deportations, with U.S. Circuit Judge Justin Walker – who was appointed by Trump during his first term – dissenting.

Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act on March 15 to swiftly deport alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, attempting to speed up removals with a law best known for its use to intern Japanese, Italian and German immigrants during World War Two.

An ensuing legal battle over the move has highlighted Trump’s attempts to strong-arm the federal judiciary, a coequal government branch that checks executive power.

Boasberg temporarily blocked the Alien Enemies Act deportations later on March 15 following a legal challenge by the American Civil Liberties Union. But the Trump administration allowed two planes already in the air to continue to El Salvador where the U.S. handed 238 Venezuelan men over to Salvadoran authorities to be placed in the country’s “Terrorism Confinement Center.”

The ruling came as U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited El Salvador’s mega-prison holding the Venezuelans deported by the U.S.

During a tour of the prison, Noem approached cells holding dozens of shirtless men clad in white pants, some with tattoos, who stared back silently. She visited one barracks where some Venezuelan detainees were being held, according to a pool report. The temperature in the room was “uncomfortably warm” – upwards of 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius), the report said.

When Noem left that room, there was “a sudden eruption of noise” that turned into a chant, but the words were unclear, the report said. The prisoners spend nearly the entire day in their cells, leaving for brief exercise or visits to a medical clinic, it said.

Noem, an outspoken proponent of Trump’s immigration crackdown, also planned to meet with El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, whose Trump-aligned government is holding the migrants in exchange for $6 million.

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