Creating a state of war would be a steep cost to expedite the removal of Venezuelan gangsters, who could be deported under regular immigration laws anyway.

On the campaign trail, candidate Donald Trump pledged to use the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport illegal-alien gang members. On March 15, President Trump delivered on his promise, ordering the removal to El Salvador of about 300 Venezuelan illegal aliens suspected of being members of the Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang.

More than 200 Venezuelans alleged by the White House to be gang members have been deported from the US to a notorious mega-jail in El Salvador.

Out of the 261 people deported, 137 were removed under the Alien Enemies Act, a senior administration official told CBS News, the BBC's US partner.

This broad, centuries-old law was invoked by President Donald Trump. He accused Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) of "perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion" on US territory.

President Donald Trump on Saturday invoked the Alien Enemies Act for the first time since World War II, granting himself sweeping powers under a centuries-old law to deport people associated with a Venezuelan gang. Hours later, a federal judge halted deportations under Trump’s order.

The act is a sweeping wartime authority that allows non-citizens to be deported without being given the opportunity to go before an immigration or federal court judge.

Hours after President Donald Trump invoked a wartime law to target terrorist organization Tren de Aragua (TdA) Saturday, a federal judge ruled the law could not be used to deport five Venezuelans and ordered the plane they were believed to be on to return to the U.S.

The Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows deportation of natives and citizens of an enemy nation without a hearing, has been invoked three times, during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II.