The president invoked this authority to deport nearly 300 of them who are now in El Salvador," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

President Donald Trump on Saturday invoked the Alien Enemies Act for the first time since World War II, granting himself sweeping powers under a centuries-old law to deport people associated with a Venezuelan gang.

The Alien Enemies Act has been invoked three times before - most recently as a justification for some internments during World War II.