President Donald Trump鈥檚 invocation of an 18th-century wartime law to deport hundreds of immigrants, most of them Venezuelans, to a prison in El Salvador has led to a showdown with the judiciary.
It has involved a series of legal filings, White House announcements, court hearings, deportation flights and a mocking social media post from a Central American leader.
Here is a timeline of events surrounding the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act. All times are Eastern.
Saturday, March 15
鈥2:16 a.m.: Two legal advocacy groups, the ACLU and Democracy Forward, sue on behalf of five Venezuelans held in immigration detention who fear they will be falsely labeled members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and deported under the 1798 law, which lawyers expect to be invoked soon.
鈥9:40 a.m.: Judge James E. Boasberg issues a temporary restraining order preventing the government from deporting the five plaintiffs. He schedules a 5 p.m. hearing on whether to expand it. The Trump administration appeals.
鈥擜bout 4 p.m.: The White House posts the order invoking the Alien Enemies Act.
鈥5 p.m.: Boasberg convenes a hearing and asks Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign if the government plans to deport anyone under Trump鈥檚 new proclamation 鈥渋n the next 24 or 48 hours.鈥 Ensign says he doesn't know. He asks for time to find out. The ACLU warns that planes are apparently about to depart. Boasberg gives Ensign about 40 minutes to find out and recesses the hearing at 5:22 pm.
鈥5:26 p.m.: An airplane with the tail number N278GX, believed by activists to be carrying deportees, leaves Harlingen, Texas, near the border with Mexico, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware.
鈥5:45 p.m.: A second plane, with the tail number N837VA and believed by activists to be carrying deportees, departs Harlingen.
鈥擜bout 5:55 p.m.: Boasberg reconvenes the hearing. Ensign says he still has no specifics. The ACLU again warns that planes are leaving. Boasberg says he has to issue a new order to avoid anyone being immediately deported.
鈥擜round 6:45 p.m.: Boasberg tells Ensign: 鈥淚nform your clients of this immediately, and that any plane containing these folks that is going to take off or is in the air needs to be returned to the United States.鈥 The judge verbally issues his order, which stands for 14 days, and notes that immigrants protected by it will remain in U.S. custody.
鈥7:26 p.m.: Boasberg's written order is released.
鈥7:36 p.m.: The plane with the tail number N278GX lands in Honduras.
鈥7:37 p.m.: A plane with the tail number N630VA, believed by activists to be carrying deportees, departs Harlingen. Government lawyers later say this plane held no one deported under the newly invoked law.
鈥8:02 p.m. The plane with the tail number N837VA lands in El Salvador.
鈥9:46 p.m.: The plane with the tail number N630VA arrives in Honduras.
鈥10:41 p.m.: The plane with the tail number N278GX departs Honduras.
Sunday, March 16:
鈥12:05 a.m.: The plane with the tail number N278GX arrives in El Salvador.
鈥12:41 a.m.: The plane with the tail number N630VA leaves Honduras.
鈥1:03 a.m.: The plane with the tail number N630VA arrives in El Salvador.
鈥7:46 a.m.: El Salvador鈥檚 president, Nayib Bukele, tweets a New York Post headline saying Boasberg had ordered planes turned around. Bukele adds 鈥淥opsie 鈥 Too late鈥 and a laughing/crying emoji.
鈥8:13 a.m.: Bukele tweets footage of the deportees arriving and being processed into his country鈥檚 .
鈥8:39 a.m.: Secretary of State Marco Rubio posts Bukele鈥檚 tweet.
鈥9:29 a.m.: White House Communications director recirculates Bukele鈥檚 laughing post
Monday, March 17
鈥5 p.m.: A hearing begins over what Boasberg has called the 鈥減ossible defiance鈥 of his court order. Goverment lawyers tell Boasberg that his verbal directions did not count, only his written order needed to be followed, that it couldn鈥檛 apply to flights outside the U.S. and that they could not answer his questions about the trips due to national security issues. Boasberg calls the arguments "one heck of a stretch.鈥 ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, warns that 鈥淚 think we're getting very close鈥 to a constitutional crisis.
鈥擜bout 12:30 p.m.: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt tells reporters that about 261 people were deported on the flights, including 137 under the Alien Enemies Act.
Tuesday, March 18
鈥8:05 a.m.: Trump criticizes Boasberg on his social media platform, Truth Social. "This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges鈥 I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!鈥
鈥11:56 a.m.: Chief Justice issues a rare public statement rejecting calls to impeach judges. 鈥淔or more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,鈥 he writes. 鈥淭he normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.鈥
鈥擜bout midday: Boasberg orders the administration to provide more information on the first two flights, including what time the planes left U.S. airspace, what time they landed in foreign countries and what time people deported under the proclamation were transferred out of U.S. custody. He gives the administration until noon Wednesday to respond.
Wednesday, March 19
鈥擜bout 8 a.m.: The Justice Department resists Boasberg's order in papers filed hours before the noon deadline, saying the court should end its 鈥渃ontinued intrusions鈥 into executive branch authority. Government lawyers call the judge's questions 鈥済rave encroachments on core aspects of absolute and unreviewable Executive Branch authority relating to national security, foreign relations and foreign policy.鈥
鈥擜bout 10:30 a.m.: Boasberg pushes back against Justice Department request to suspend his order for more information, saying 鈥淎lthough their grounds for such request at first blush are not persuasive, the Court will extend the deadline for one more day.鈥
Thursday, March 20
鈥擜bout 3 p.m.: Boasberg calls Trump administration's response 鈥渨oefully insufficient鈥 after asking why its failure to turn around did not violate his court order.
Friday, March 21
鈥擜bout 10:30 a.m.: Department of Justice attorneys tell Boasberg in a court filing that administration officials are debating whether to invoke a 鈥渟tate secrets privilege鈥 in response to his questions.
鈥擜bout 3 p.m.: Boasberg vows in a hearing for a lawsuit challenging the deportations that he will get answers about whether the government defied his order to turn the planes around. 鈥淚 will get to the bottom of whether they violated my order, who ordered this and what the consequences will be,鈥 he said.
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Associated Press writer Tim Sullivan contributed to this report.