On March 15, two U.S. deportation flights took off in defiance of a federal judge’s order to halt them. Now, new court filings show that the government flew at least eight Venezuelan women to El Salvador—and promptly returned them to the U.S. after Salvadoran officials rejected them.

The deportations are part of President Donald Trump’s enforcement of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a centuries-old law invoked to justify mass deportations of Venezuelan migrants. According to USA Today and ABC News, this legal maneuver has drawn sharp criticism for stripping people of due process and accelerating deportations with little accountability.

El Salvador Rejected the Venezuelan Women and Sent Them Back

According to USA Today, Salvadoran officials refused to accept the Venezuelan women aboard the March 15 flights. Two of the women—one identified in court documents as S.Z.F.R. and the other a 26-year-old Nicaraguan woman—submitted sworn declarations detailing what happened.

“All the men got off the plane,” S.Z.F.R. said. “The remaining women asked, ‘What happens to us?’ I was told that the President of El Salvador would not accept women.”

The Nicaraguan woman recalled overhearing a Salvadoran official telling an ICE officer that the prison “was not for females and females were not mentioned in the agreement.” She said they also refused to accept people from other Central American countries, citing potential political conflicts.

Eventually, the government flew the women back to Texas.

Why This Matters for the Venezuelan Women Involved

Attorneys for the migrants say the fact that these women were returned proves the U.S. government could have complied with the federal court’s order to halt deportations. Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg had issued a verbal order on March 15 and a written order shortly after, temporarily blocking further deportation flights.

However, as USA Today reported, government lawyers claimed the verbal order was not enforceable and proceeded with the flights. The Justice Department has refused to clarify when exactly the planes took off or where they landed.

Skye Perryman, president of Democracy Forward Foundation and one of the attorneys representing the migrants, told USA Today the government’s position “should send chills down every American’s spine.”

“When asked directly, the government again maintained that people the President chooses to remove from the country should be afforded no due process,” Perryman said. “This is a threat to all Americans and a king-like expansion of power.”

Venezuelan Women Report Being Shackled, Pressured to Sign Confessions

In her sworn declaration, S.Z.F.R. described being shackled by her arms and legs during the entire trip, including a stopover in another country while the plane refueled. She said immigration officials tried to coerce male detainees into signing documents admitting to being members of Tren de Aragua (TdA), the Venezuelan gang that President Trump has declared a terrorist organization.

“The government officials were pushing them to sign the documents and threatening them,” she said, according to ABC News. “I heard them discussing the documents, and they were about the men admitting they were members of TdA.”

An unnamed Nicaraguan migrant, also returned to the U.S., told ABC News that officials forcibly removed people from the plane and questioned them about their citizenship. “Everyone was scared,” she said.

Trump Is Using a 1798 Wartime Law to Deport Venezuelans

As reported by mitú, President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to carry out these mass deportations. The law, one of the four Alien and Sedition Acts, was originally passed during fears of war with France. It gives the president sweeping authority to remove noncitizens from countries considered hostile during wartime or an “invasion.”

Historically, the U.S. has only used the law during wartime—in 1812, World War I, and World War II. Its use today, during peacetime, has alarmed critics who call it a dangerous expansion of presidential power.

The Trump administration claims these deportations target alleged members of Tren de Aragua. However, according to ABC News, even ICE acknowledged that many of the deportees had no criminal record in the U.S.

The Legal Battle Is Far From Over

Judge Boasberg’s restraining order sparked an appeal from the Justice Department, which argued the order lacked clarity. Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union and Democracy Forward continue to challenge the deportations in court.

Attorney Lee Gelernt of the ACLU told the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals that they plan to file the document that detainees were pressured to sign. “We will put into the district court the piece of paper that individuals are getting that specifically says, ‘You’re not entitled to review,'” he said.

According to Mitú, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele mocked the court order on social media, posting “Oopsie… Too late ????” alongside a screenshot of Judge Boasberg’s decision.

The return of the Venezuelan women may complicate the legal narrative the Justice Department is trying to push. For now, the future of the other migrants deported under the Alien Enemies Act remains uncertain—but their testimonies are making one thing clear: this story is far from over.

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