Judge says in hearing that Nazis were treated better than Venezuelans deported by Trump.

Reuters - A US appeals court judge said on Monday that Nazis had more right to contest their removal from the United States during World War II than Venezuelan migrants deported by the Trump administration.

In a contentious hearing, U.S. Circuit Judge Patricia Millett questioned government attorney Drew Ensign about whether Venezuelans targeted for deportation under a little-used 18th-century law had time to contest the Trump administration's claim that they were members of the Tren de Aragua gang before being put on planes and deported to El Salvador.

"The Nazis received better treatment under the Enemy of the Foreigners Act than they did here," Millett said, to which Ensign replied, "We certainly dispute the analogy with the Nazis."

Before the Trump administration invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, the law had been used three times in U.S. history, most recently to intern and remove Japanese, German, and Italian immigrants during World War II.

The Trump administration is asking the appeals court to suspend the two-week ban imposed on March 15 by Washington District Judge James Boasberg on using the law to justify the deportation of alleged members of the Aragua Train without final removal orders issued by immigration judges.

Family members of many of the deported Venezuelan migrants deny the alleged gang links. Lawyers for one of the deportees, a Venezuelan professional soccer player and youth team coach, said that US authorities wrongly labeled him a gang member based on a crown tattoo that referenced his favorite team, Real Madrid.

Millett, appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama, is one of three judges on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals panel reviewing the government's appeal against Boasberg's order. Judge Justin Walker, appointed by Republican Donald Trump during his first term, appeared more favorable to the government's arguments.

The panel's third judge, Karen Henderson, was appointed by Republican President George H.W. Bush. The court has not said when it will issue a ruling.

The case emerged as a major test of Trump's broad assertion of executive power. With Republicans holding a majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and largely supporting the president's agenda, federal judges have frequently emerged as the only limit to Trump's executive actions.

In a court document filed Monday, government lawyers told Boasberg they would not provide further information about the deportation flights, invoking the privilege of state secrecy. This legal doctrine allows the government to withhold information that could jeopardize national security during legal proceedings.

After Boasberg temporarily suspended the deportations, Trump called for the judge's impeachment in a process that could lead to his removal. In response, the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, John Roberts, issued a rare statement rebuking Trump and asserting that appeals, not impeachment, are the appropriate response to disagreements with judicial decisions.

'Pushed' into the planes - Trump argued that it is the judiciary, not his administration, that is overstepping its bounds.

At Monday's hearing, Ensign told the appeals court judges that Boasberg's order should be stayed because the judge did not have the right to question the president's decisions on foreign policy matters.

Walker asked Lee Gelernt, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which represents some Venezuelan migrants, for examples of previous cases in which courts restricted national security actions by presidents and those decisions were upheld on appeal.

Gelernt said the government could not argue that granting people due process would interfere with national security.

In a 37-page decision published earlier on Monday, Boasberg rejected a request from the Trump administration to suspend the two-week ban. The judge stated that people must have the opportunity to challenge the government's position that they are, in fact, members of the Tren de Aragua before being deported.

Boasberg is also examining whether the Trump administration violated his order by not resuming deportation flights after issuing the decision.

The judge wrote that the administration appeared to have "pushed people onto those planes" to avoid a possible court order blocking the deportations.

On March 15, the Trump administration deported more than 200 people to El Salvador, where they are being held in the country's massive anti-terrorism prison, under an agreement in which Washington is paying President Nayib Bukele's government $6 million.

Boasberg's decision on Monday applied to five ACLU-represented plaintiffs involved in a previous, more restrictive ruling, as well as other Venezuelans in the U.S. who may be subject to removal under the Enemy Aliens Act. The judge did not address migrants currently detained in El Salvador.

In a document filed with the court on Monday, the ACLU urged Boasberg to require that the migrants be returned to the U.S. if he concludes that they were deported in violation of his order.

The ACLU stated that eight Venezuelan women and one Nicaraguan man were among those taken to El Salvador, but were rejected by the government and returned to the U.S.

In a sworn statement, one of the Venezuelan women said she heard a U.S. official, during the flight, discussing an order "saying we can't take off."