The Trump administration is advocating the use of wartime law to deport immigrants.
Despite the White House's position, a judge blocked the measure, and Venezuela denied some of the accusations made by US authorities.
By Valerie Volcovici and Nathan Layne
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Trump administration officials on Sunday defended the use of extraordinary war powers to deport dozens of Venezuelan immigrants, despite a judge blocking the measure and Venezuela denying claims by U.S. officials that the deportees were gang members.
"This is a modern war, and we will continue to fight it and protect American citizens every step of the way," Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on "Sunday Morning Futures."
Bondi stated that the Trump administration's decision to deport 137 Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador last weekend was justified because they were members of Venezuela's feared Tren de Aragua gang and posed a security risk.
Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said on Friday, however, that none of the Venezuelans deported by the U.S. to El Salvador were members of the gang, which Washington has declared to be a terrorist group.
The government used the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a wartime law, to deport the immigrants, claiming they were committing violent crimes and sending money to Venezuela.
White House national security advisor Mike Waltz said on CBS's "Face the Nation," without citing evidence, that the Aragua Train was a representative of the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
"The sedition law applies fully because we have also determined that this group is acting as a representative of the Maduro regime," Waltz declared. "Maduro is deliberately emptying his prisons indirectly to influence an attack on the United States."
District Judge James Boasberg said on Friday that he would continue to investigate whether the Trump administration violated his order to temporarily block the use of the law for deportations, after failing to divert two flights carrying Venezuelans.
The Trump administration faces a March 25 deadline to respond to a request for more details about the deportations.
Some legal experts see the situation as an escalation in President Donald Trump's confrontation with the judiciary and say it raises concerns about an impending constitutional crisis.
Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, told ABC News' "This Week" that he would not defy Boasberg's order, but reiterated that the Trump administration would continue to detain immigrants it deemed dangerous.
"We will continue to arrest threats to public safety and national security," Homan stated. "We will continue to target the worst of the worst."
(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici, Nathan Layne and Phil Stewart)
