The Trump administration says the group should be treated as an invading force. Critics say it’s a pretext for the administration’s anti-immigrant narrative.

President Donald Trump used wartime authority to deport nearly 240 alleged Latin American gang members to a mega-prison in El Salvador over the weekend. A federal judge unsuccessfully sought to block the administration’s actions,

Trump labeled the Tren de Aragua an invading force when he invoked the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 authority that allows the president to deport any noncitizen during wartime.