Federal judges in New York and Texas on Wednesday issued orders to temporarily halt the deportation of Venezuelan plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act – a wartime authority the administration has invoked to deport alleged gang members without due process.

McALLEN — Federal judges in Texas and New York on Wednesday moved to block the U.S. government from deporting five Venezuelans under a rarely-invoked law that gives the president the power to imprison and deport noncitizens in times of war.

Advocates for men targeted for deportation under President Donald Trump’s invocation of wartime powers against a Venezuelan gang are trying to move their legal fight to Manhattan, even though the Supreme Court expected it would play out in Texas.