Donald Trump defends Venezuelan gang deportations despite federal judge’s block

Donald Trump has defended deporting hundreds of alleged members of a Venezuelan gang, even after a federal judge temporarily blocked the administration from carrying out deportations under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.

A plane carrying suspected members of a notorious Venezuelan gang touched down at a prison in El Salvador on Saturday (15 March), despite a judge’s order.

The president was quizzed about the deportations on board Air Force One on Saturday.

He told reporters: “I can tell you this, these were bad people. That was a bad group of, as I say, hombres.”