The Trump administration is deporting more suspected members of a Venezuelan gang to El Salvador but says it didn’t use a centuries-old wartime law that is subject to a court battle after a federal judge temporarily blocked the practice.

Secretary of State Rubio says America transferred 17 migrants it suspects of being members of a Venezuelan gang, the Tren de Aragua, and a second Latin America-based gang, MS-13, to El Salvador on Sunday evening. Several Salvadoran nationals convicted of murder and sex crimes also were deported.

“These criminals will no longer terrorize our communities and citizens,” Mr. Rubio said in an X post published Monday morning.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele released a video of the men being pulled off the plane and being put into jail cells. He called them “confirmed murderers and high-profile offenders.”

Mr. Rubio did not indicate what authority the administration used, but White House officials told Fox News that the men all had final removal orders and were deported under regular U.S. immigration law.

President Trump issued a proclamation on March 15 that invoked the Alien Enemies Act to quickly deport suspected gang members, but a district court judge, James Boasberg, blocked its use and the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled two-to-one against a request to lift the order.

President Trump submitted an emergency appeal on Friday asking the Supreme Court to weigh in on whether he has the authority to use the act for the deportations. The high court asked lawyers for the deportees to respond by April 1.

The government asserts that Judge Boasberg’s order is “forcing the United States to harbor individuals whom national-security officials have identified as members of a foreign terrorist organization bent upon grievously harming Americans.”

Lawyers for the Justice Department claim Judge Boasberg’s order represents an “unprecedented and enormous intrusion” on the president’s authority.

The use of the law has raised due process concerns for those facing deportation, with some civil rights advocates noting that some of the Venezuelan migrants deported to El Salvador so far denied having anything to do with the Tren de Aragua gang.

The ACLU says it obtained the guide Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are using to decide what migrants can be eligible for deportation to El Salvador. It shows any Venezuelan over the age of 14 with a “gang tattoo” and displaying “logos” or “symbols” an ICE officer determines are gang signs could be deported.

Judge Boasberg is weighing whether to rule if the government defied his order that planes carrying migrants turn around and return to the United States as part of his injunction. The administration claims the deportations were already completed when the order was issued.

The Trump administration has invoked “state secrets privilege” to block handing over any further information about the flights.

Another federal district court judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration from deporting migrants to third party countries without first being allowed to due process hearings.

Judge Brian E. Murphy’s temporary restraining order cited the Convention Against Torture and concerns it could be violated through the deportations.