A federal judge in Washington, DC, told lawyers for migrants in Texas who believed the Trump administration is about to swiftly deport them under the Alien Enemies Act that he did not have the power to pause the deportations,

Deportation flights have been cleared for takeoff as two Trump-appointed judges blocked attempts to pause proceedings over the use of an obscure wartime law. James Boasberg, chief judge of the Washington D.

A federal judge’s ruling that the Trump administration appears to have willfully violated his order to turn around planes of migrants headed for El Salvador increases the prospect of officials being held in criminal contempt of court and potentially facing possible prosecution.