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

In a proclamation published on Saturday, President Donald Trump 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 and contract killings.

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., 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 on Sunday 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.

Bukele also posted a video showing shackled men escorted off a plane by Salvadoran authorities and bused to a prison. Detainees then had their heads and beards shaved and were placed in a cell.

U.S. 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 timing of when the flights carrying the alleged gang members departed the U.S. and arrived in El Salvador remained unclear.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg issued the order blocking the use of the Alien Enemies Act during a hearing on Saturday evening before 7 p.m. EDT, with the written notice appearing in the case docket at 7:25 p.m.

In the hearing, Boasberg said any flights carrying migrants processed under the law should return to the U.S.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged Trump’s use of the act, has asked the administration to ensure that it has not removed any migrants in violation of the order, lead ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt told Reuters.

“If anyone was turned over to a foreign government after the court’s order, then we would hope that the United States government would work with that foreign government to get the individuals back,” Gelernt said.

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

“Oopsie…Too late,” Bukele posted on Sunday in response to an article about the order blocking the deportations, adding a laughing emoji.

TRUMP CRACKDOWN

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government said it rejected the use of the “anachronistic” U.S. law to deport alleged gang members, saying it violated migrants’ rights.

The U.S. government has not provided detailed information about the deportees or any criminal convictions.

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

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

Trump, a Republican, launched a wide-ranging immigration crackdown after taking office on January 20, vowing to deport millions of immigrants in the U.S. illegally. While the Trump administration has struggled to increase deportation numbers, it has opened up new avenues to arrest and remove migrants.

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 U.S. immigration courts and speedily remove the migrants.

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