US flies hundreds of alleged gang members to El Salvador despite court ruling to halt flights

The US deported more than 250 mainly Venezuelan alleged gang members to El Salvador over the weekend despite a US judge's ruling to halt the flights on Saturday after Donald Trump controversially invoked the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 law meant only to be used in wartime.

- Edward Helmore,Tom Phillips

El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele, said 238 members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and 23 members of the Salvadorian gang MS-13 had arrived and were in custody as part of a deal under which the US will pay the Central American country to hold them in its multimillion-dollar 40,000-person capacity "terrorism confinement centre".

The confirmation came hours after a US federal judge expanded his ruling temporarily blocking the Trump administration from invoking the Alien Enemies Act, a wartime authority that allows the president broad leeway on policy and executive action to speed up mass deportations.

The US district judge James Boasberg had attempted to halt the deportations for all individuals deemed eligible for removal under Trump's proclamation, which was issued on Friday. Boasberg also ordered deportation flights already in the air to return to the US. "Oopsie, too late," Bukele posted online, along with a laughing emoji.

Soon after Bukele's statement, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, thanked El Salvador's leader. "Thank you for your assistance and friendship, President Bukele," he wrote on social media, following up an earlier post in which he said the US had sent two "dangerous top MS-13 leaders plus 21 of its most wanted back to face justice in El Salvador".