A federal judge in Texas found on Thursday that President Donald Trump did not meet the necessary criteria to use the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged Tren de Aragua members, dealing a blow to the administration as it attempts to remove criminal illegal immigrants from the country quickly.

President Donald Trump's administration exceeded the scope of an 18th-century wartime law in using it to deport some Venezuelan migrants, a federal judge in Texas said on Thursday in barring the administration from using it to speed up deportations.

The ruling, which is limited to the Southern District of Texas, prohibited the administration from using the wartime law because the president’s claims about a Venezuelan gang do not add up to an “invasion.