US deports hundreds of Venezuelans to El Salvador despite court order

More than 200 alleged members of a Venezuelan gang have been deported by the US and sent to El Salvador where they were taken to a high-security prison, the Salvadoran president said on Sunday.

US President Donald Trump on Friday invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to rapidly deport alleged members of Tren de Aragua, a criminal organization that has been linked to kidnapping, extortion, organized crime and contract killings.

A day later, a federal judge in Washington, DC, blocked the application of the law for 14 days, saying the statute refers to "hostile acts" perpetrated by another country that are "commensurate to war."

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said in a post on the X social media network that 238 alleged members of the Venezuelan gang had arrived in his country and were transferred to the Terrorism Confinement Center - a mega-prison that can hold up to 40,000 inmates - for a one-year period that could be renewed.

The timing of when the flights carrying the alleged gang members departed the US and arrived in El Salvador remained unclear, but an X post by Bukele suggested it was underway before the US judge's order.

"Oopsie...too late," Bukele posted in response to the order.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an X post that more than 250 alleged members of Tren de Aragua had been sent to El Salvador.

The US Department of Homeland Security, the State Department and the Salvadoran government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government said it rejected the use of the "anachronistic" US law to deport alleged gang members, saying it violated migrants' rights.

Both Bukele and Rubio said the US had also sent 23 members of the Salvadoran gang MS-13 to El Salvador.

The Associated Press reported on Saturday that the US had agreed to pay El Salvador $6 million to imprison 300 alleged members of Tren de Aragua for one year.

The Alien Enemies Act - best known for its use to justify internment camps for people of Japanese, German and Italian descent during World War Two - would let the Trump administration bypass US immigration courts and speedily remove the migrants.

The Trump administration has filed an appeal against Saturday's legal decision at the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.