Two groups known for their leftist politics have quickly put a temporary block on President Donald Trump's plan to use a Revolutionary War-era law to speed up the deportation of criminal gangs.

The President on Saturday signed an Executive Order invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which aims for swift detention and deportation of those in America who are migrants from hostile nations.

Venezuela has been considered hostile to the US, and Venezuelan gangs such as Tren de Aragua have been designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization which includes thousands of members, so President Trump said on Saturday that he intends to use the Presidential Order as applicable to Venezuelan gangs for use in getting them out of the country as soon as possible.

But even before the White House publicized the order, the American Civil Liberties Union and Democracy Forward filed an extremely unusual lawsuit to stop the use of the 19th Century law.

The lawsuit stated that the Executive Order could be used to name the Venezuelan gang as an overall invasion force of some kind and therefore could be used to deport all Venezuelans by labeling them members of the "predatory incursion" gang.

Just hours after the White House released news of the Presidential Order, the Chief Judge of the Washington DC District Court, James E. Boasberg, agreed to a temporary restraining order called for by the two groups, resulting in blocking the US from deporting five members of the gang who are in custody -- but then the judge expanded his ruling, banning for two weeks the deportation of all Venezuelan gang members who are in US custody.

The Trump administration had hoped to utilize the law to quickly deport at least the five Venezuelans, who are expected to be deported anyway, with use of the law helping accelerate the task.

The last time the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 was used came during the administration of Democrat President Franklin D. Roosevelt to justify the internment of Japanese-American civilians during World War II.

The US Justice Department is expected to appeal Saturday's temporary order.

See the Presidential Order Proclamation issued by President Trump Saturday by clicking here.

Jimmy Barrett