US court upholds block on deportation of some Venezuelans in blow to Trump

Three-judge panel votes 2-1 to uphold original decision by James Boasberg, with Trump appointee dissenting

A US appeals court has upheld a lower court’s temporary block on the Trump administration’s deportation of some Venezuelan immigrants under a little-used 18th-century law.

The decision on Wednesday by the US circuit court of appeals for the DC circuit marks a defeat for Donald Trump, who argued that a judge’s two-week ban on deportations under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act encroached on the executive’s authority to make national security decisions.