A federal judge on Saturday barred the administration of President Donald Trump from deportations under an 18th century law that Trump invoked just hours earlier asserting the United States was being invaded by a Venezuelan gang and that he had new powers to remove its members from the country.

James E. Boasberg, chief judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia, said he needed to issue his order immediately because the government was already flying migrants it claimed were newly deportable under Trump’s proclamation to El Salvador and Honduras to be incarcerated there.

“I do not believe I can wait any longer and am required to act,” he said during a Saturday evening hearing in a lawsuit brought by the ACLU and Democracy Forward. “A brief delay in their removal does not cause the government any harm,” Boasberg added, noting they remain in government custody.

The ruling came hours after Trump claimed the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua was invading the United States and invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 , a sweeping wartime authority that allows the president broader leeway on policy and executive action to speed up mass deportations of people — potentially pushing his promised crackdown on immigration into higher gear. (AP)