President Donald Trump has invoked the Alien Enemies Act, a tool that grants the president sweeping power to imprison and deport non-citizens in time of war, to target alleged members of a Venezuelan gang.

In 1798, with the U.S. preparing for what it believed would be a war with France, Congress passed a series of laws that increased the federal government’s reach. The Alien Enemies Act was created to give the president wide powers to imprison and deport noncitizens in time of war.

A minute-by-minute timeline of events of the Trump administration's race against the clock to deport alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Debates over President Donald Trump’s hardline migration policies are focused on the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, to some a ruthless transnational criminal organization and to others the pretext for an overhyped anti-migrant narrative.

Tren de Aragua, a gang born out of a Venezuelan prison, is a loose network that doesn’t operate like groups typically considered terrorist organizations.