A federal appeals court refused Wednesday to lift an order barring the Trump administration from deporting Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador under an 18th century wartime law. A split three-judge panel of the U.

The Trump administration has invoked a “state secrets privilege” and refused to give a federal judge any additional information about the deportation of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador — a case that has become a flashpoint amid escalating tension with the federal courts.

The judge’s freeze on the administration’s use of the 227-year-old law was set to expire on Saturday ... Act for the first time since World War II earlier this month in an effort to ...

The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court for permission to resume deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador under an 18th-century wartime law, while a court fight continues.

Deportation fight: A federal judge in Washington appeared deeply skeptical about the Trump administration’s use of a powerful but rarely used wartime law to deport scores of Venezuelan immigrants.

The declaration comes as Chief Judge James Boasberg weighs whether the government defied his order to turn around planes carrying migrants after he blocked deportations of people alleged to be gang members without due process.

Pres. Trump is targeting law firms for employing attorneys who previously worked on cases involving the president. Katie Phang is joined by Atty. Rachel Cohen, a former Skadden Arps associate who resigned in protest of the firm's handling of threats from Trump.

Trump administration officials on Sunday defended their use of extraordinary war powers to deport scores of Venezuelan migrants despite a judge blocking the move and Venezuela denying U.S. officials' assertions that the deportees were gang members.