The Trump administration has transferred hundreds of immigrants to El Salvador even as a federal judge issued an order temporarily barring the deportations under an 18th century wartime declaration targeting Venezuelan gang members.

The Trump administration said Sunday that hundreds of individuals were deported from the country after President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act, a sweeping wartime authority which has been used only three times before,

The Trump administration has transferred hundreds of immigrants to El Salvador despite a federal judge’s order temporarily barring the deportations under an 18th century wartime declaration.

The judge’s initial temporary restraining order blocked the Trump administration from deporting five Venezuelans.

A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s ability to use a sweeping wartime authority to quickly deport some migrants whom the US has accused of being affiliated with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

After a flurry of litigation, a federal judge on Saturday stalled the Trump administration's plan to carry out mass deportations under the Alien Enemies Act, a sweeping 18th century law that expands the president's powers.

Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act against Tren de Aragua members. A federal judge later ordered the administration to turn around any planes that had already taken off.