President Donald Trump appeared to be barreling toward a showdown with the courts Monday after his administration expelled alleged members of a Venezuelan gang under little-used, centuries-old wartime legislation.
Trump, already pushing the law to its limits on several fronts, also claimed he had annulled pardons issued by Joe Biden, on the grounds that his Democratic predecessor supposedly used an autopen for his signature.
The Republican's moves to expand the power of the executive have increasingly raised fears among some critics that he will defy the judiciary, upending or at least reinterpreting the constitutional balance of power in the United States.
A U.S. federal judge ordered a hearing later Monday on whether the White House had deliberately ignored his orders by flying more than 200 people to El Salvador, where the Trump administration is paying the authorities to imprison the deportees.
The White House said the administration would win the case and denied that officials breached the law, saying the deportees had already left the United States when the judge made his order.
"We are wholly confident that we are going to win this case in court," press secretary Karoline Leavitt told a briefing.
Leavitt argued that the use of the obscure 1798 Alien Enemies Act was justified as Trump had declared members of Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang as a foreign terrorist group.
The law was last used in World War II to intern tens of thousands of Japanese-Americans.
Judge James Boasberg ordered a hearing at 5 p.m. with the administration's lawyers to clarify the situation.
Rights groups have warned the wartime legislation could be used as cover for mass deportations without due process.
El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele had posted "Oopsie ... Too late" on social media on Sunday in response to an article on the judge's ruling, adding a crying-with-laughter emoji.
That was then reposted by a senior Trump aide. The White House has also posted footage of detainees in handcuffs being led from a plane to a heavily guarded convoy, and of their heads being shaved upon arrival in El Salvador.
In Venezuela, the head of the parliament, Jorge Rodriguez, called the expulsions "a crime against humanity."
- 'Void, vacant' -
Trump promised a crackdown on undocumented migration during his 2024 election campaign and has repeatedly painted a picture of a wave of crimes by migrants as a key rationale for that crackdown.
His administration has increasingly appeared to be spoiling for a legal fight that will end up in the conservative-dominated U.S. Supreme Court, becoming a test case for the extents of executive power.
Trump again tested the boundaries on Monday when he declared he was canceling pardons issued by Biden in the last days of his presidency to shield Trump critics from future retribution.
Trump said on his Truth Social platform that the pardons "are hereby declared void, vacant, and of no further force or effect, because of the fact they were done by Autopen."
Presidents have long used autopens, including to sign bills into law, and it was unclear if Biden had used the signature device on the pardons.
It was also unclear what, if any, authority Trump has to void presidential pardons.
Asked by reporters early Monday whether everything Biden signed with an autopen should be voided, Trump said: "I think so. It's not my decision, that'll be up to a court."
Biden issued pardons to former senior Republican lawmaker Liz Cheney and other members of the congressional committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, breach at the Capitol.
Other recipients included former COVID pandemic adviser Anthony Fauci, retired general Mark Milley, and close family members including Biden's son Hunter.
Trump repeatedly promised "retribution" against his political opponents while running in the 2024 election and has sought to diminish opposition since taking office.
The president was on Monday visiting the Kennedy Center in Washington – the top arts venue where he installed himself as chairman and ousted the leadership a month ago as part of a war on "woke" ideology.