The U.S. military is planning a large deportation flight to El Salvador to be carried out under the Alien Enemies Act, ABC News reported on Friday.
News of the deportation flight comes as attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union representing several Venezuelan migrants say their clients are being held at the Bluebonnet detention center in Anson, Texas, and believe they are at "imminent risk" of being deported to El Salvador.
"Petitioners have learned that officers at Bluebonnet have distributed notices under the Alien Enemies Act, in English only, that designate Venezuelan men for removal under the AEA, and have told the men that the removals are imminent and will happen tonight or tomorrow," attorneys from the ACLU wrote in a filed statement.
In March, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg blocked the Trump administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act, which the president invoked as justification for the rapid deportation of members of the Venezuelan criminal gang Tren de Aragua.
Boasberg called the actions of the Trump White House "incredibly troubling and problematic," adding that he administration engaged in "an unprecedented and expanded use of an act that has been used ... in the War of 1812, World War I and World War II, when there was no question there was a declaration of war and who the enemy was."
Last week, in a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the Trump administration's request to lift the temporary restraining order issued by Boasberg but noted that those targeted for removal under the act are entitled to challenge their removal.
The declarations from the group's attorney were filed after U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix in Texas denied a Friday request for a temporary restraining order saying that the ACLU "failed to meet their burden to show a substantial threat of imminent, irreparable injury."
"In the hours after this Court's order on the [temporary restraining order)] Attorney Brown's client, F.G.M., was approached by ICE officers, accused of being a member of Tren de Aragua, and told to sign papers in English," attorneys for the ACLU wrote. "ICE told him the papers "were coming from the President, and that he will be deported even if he did not sign it."
When asked for comment regarding the ACLU filing, Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said, "For the safety of our law enforcement, we cannot disclose details about upcoming removal and deportation operations."