A federal judge on Thursday has prevented the Trump administration from deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members from South Texas using the Alien Enemies Act (AEA), an 18th-century law.

U.S. District Court Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr., whom Trump nominated in 2018, said, “Neither the Court nor the parties question that the Executive Branch can direct the detention and removal of aliens who engage in criminal activity in the United States.”

Rodriguez continued, “the President’s invocation of the AEA through the Proclamation exceeds the scope of the statute and is contrary to the plain, ordinary meaning of the statute’s terms.”

Rodriguez is the first judge to argue that the president cannot use the Alien Enemies Act to deport those the administration claims are gang members invading the United States.

In March, President Donald Trump proclaimed that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua was invading the United States, citing the 18th-century law as his special power to deport these migrants without the typical court proceedings.

“The Court concludes that the President’s invocation of the AEA through the Proclamation exceeds the scope of the statute and, as a result, is unlawful,” Rodriguez continued.

“Thus, the Proclamation’s language cannot be read as describing conduct that falls within the meaning of ‘invasion’ for purposes of the AEA,” Rodriguez said, stating that the gang members were not coming to the United States at the behest of the Venezuelan government.

The Associated Press wrote:

If the administration appeals, it would go first to the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. That is among the nation’s most conservative appeals courts and it also has ruled against what it saw as overreach on immigration matters by both the Obama and Biden administrations. In those cases, Democratic administrations had sought to make it easier for immigrants to remain in the U.S.

The administration, as it has in other cases challenging its expansive view of presidential power, could turn to appellate courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, in the form of an emergency motion for a stay pending an appeal.

The Supreme Court ruled that those deported under the Alien Enemies Act must be given “reasonable time” to contest their removal from the country, although the nation’s highest court did not decide what amounts to a “reasonable” amount of time.