WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court has ruled President Donald Trump cannot use an 18th-century wartime law to speed the deportations of people his administration accuses of membership in a Venezuelan gang. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday agreed with immigrant rights groups that Trump improperly invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 against Tren de Aragua in March. The administration deported people designated as Tren de Aragua members to a notorious prison in El Salvador. The appeals panel found the gang wasn’t a legitimate target for a law that has only been used three times before in history, all during declared wars. The case will likely end up at the U.S. Supreme Court.
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