Judges extend orders against deportation flights, including wartime act on violent Venezuelan gang members

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A D.C. federal judge on Friday extended a restraining order against the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 wartime immigration law the Trump administration enacted to deport Venezuelan nationals who are alleged Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang members in the U.S. illegally.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruled the extension will run through April 12.

Also on Friday, in a separate ruling, a federal judge in Boston, U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy, blocked the deportation of migrants to countries where they have no existing relationship without a chance to go to court to contest that move.

Judge James E. Boasberg, chief judge of the Federal District Court in D.C., at E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, D.C., March 16. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

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Last week, Boasberg issued a temporary restraining order blocking President Donald Trump from using the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan nationals, stating he needed more time to consider the merits of the case.

In a bench ruling, he ordered all planes carrying Venezuelan nationals or other deportees under the Alien Enemies Act be returned.

The administration later filed an emergency request for the U.S. appeals court to intervene. 

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to review the decision. (Donald Trump/Truth Social)

There will be additional hearings April 8.

Supreme Court justices were asked Friday to review the restraining order, and Trump administration lawyers claimed the lower courts' orders contradict the president's agenda.

Lawyers claim the order limits the administration's ability to "protect the Nation against foreign terrorist organizations."

Salvadoran police officers escort alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua recently deported by the U.S. government in Tecoluca, El Salvador, to be imprisoned in the Terrorism Confinement Center prison as part of an agreement with the Salvadoran government.  (Secretaria de Prensa de la Presidencia/Handout via Reuters)

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U.S. acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris called the lower court's orders "flawed," claiming they threaten the government's "sensitive negotiations" with foreign powers.

Harris added there could be "serious and perhaps irreparable harm" if the orders are not immediately reviewed by the Supreme Court.

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The administration is seeking an administrative stay, which would allow use of the act to deport Venezuelan nationals while the court looks over the policy.

Fox News Digital's Haley Chi-Sing and Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.