Trump ignores court order pausing use of Alien Enemies Act and carries out deportations of Venezuelan gang members: Live updates

President Donald Trump appears to have expanded the scope of the travel ban from his first term to include 43 countries, according to a report.

Now, with that deadline approaching, a draft list of proposed countries banned from traveling to the US is circulating, the New York Times reported.

A White House official told The Independent no decision has been made.

It was developed by the State Department weeks ago, officials familiar with the matter told the outlet, who cautioned it will likely undergo changes by the time the White House gets ahold of it.

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The US military conducted overnight airstrikes on Yemen in what President Donald Trump claimed was a response to Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, killing at least 31 people, most of them women and children, at the start of a campaign expected to last many days.

The airstrikes came after the Houthis threatened to resume attacks on ships linked to Israel in the Red Sea over its blockade of Gaza.

The Houthis targeted around 100 military and civilian ships with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels and killing four sailors, between October 2023, when Israel launched its war on Gaza, and January 2025, when the ceasefire took effect.

The Trump administration announced it had deported hundreds of alleged members of a Venezuelan gang, even after a federal judge temporarily blocked the administration from carrying out deportations under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which the president invoked on Saturday.

“This weekend, at the President’s direction, the Department of Homeland Security successfully arrested nearly 300 Tren De Aragua terrorists, saving countless American lives,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Sunday. “Thanks to the great work of the Department of State, these heinous monsters were extracted and removed to El Salvador where they will no longer be able to pose any threat to the American People.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio also remarked on the deportations Sunday, writing in a statement on X that “El Salvador has agreed to hold in their very good jails at a fair price that will also save our taxpayer dollars.” He added that the U.S. also sent two “dangerous” top MS-13 gang leaders as well as 21 Salvadorans “to face justice” in the country.

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The Vice President for Government Affairs at the Center for International Policy, Dylan Williams, reacted to the news that the Trump administration has deported hundreds of Venezuelans even as a court order from a federal judge ordered a pause on the use of the wartime authority the Alien Enemies Act.

“The Trump Administration has undeniably crossed the Rubicon of openly defying court orders,” Williams wrote on X. “It is not only acting in an unlawful manner — it is declaring itself the enemy of the rule of law in the United States. This is an all-out constitutional crisis.”

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries slammed the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act, a wartime authority the Trump White House is using to speed up deportations.

Democrats are “going to stand strongly in support of the rule of law and its application, which the Trump administration appears to be violating in this particular instance,” Jeffries said Sunday.

On Saturday night, a court order from a federal judge temporarily blocked the administration’s ability to use the law, and ordered any planes currently flying migrants out of the country to turn around. The judge stated that the restraining order would remain in effect for two weeks “or until further order of the court.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X on Sunday morning that “We have sent 2 dangerous top MS-13 leaders plus 21 of its most wanted back to face justice in El Salvador.”

“Also, as promised by @POTUS, we sent over 250 alien enemy members of Tren de Aragua which El Salvador has agreed to hold in their very good jails at a fair price that will also save our taxpayer dollars,” he added. “President @nayibbukele is not only the strongest security leader in our region, he’s also a great friend of the U.S. Thank you!”