Legal battles, deportation flights: A timeline of Donald Trump's Alien Enemies Act row

President Donald Trump’s invocation of an 18th-century wartime law to deport hundreds of immigrants, most of them Venezuelans, to a prison in El Salvador has led to a showdown with the judiciary. On March 17, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt tells reporters that about 261 people were deported on the flights, including 137 under the Alien Enemies Act It has involved a series of legal filings, White House announcements, court hearings, deportation flights and a mocking social media post from a Central American leader. —9:29 a.m.: White House Communications director recirculates Bukele’s laughing post Monday, March 17 —5 p.m.: A hearing begins over what Boasberg has called the “possible defiance” of his court order. —About 12:30 p.m.: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt tells reporters that about 261 people were deported on the flights, including 137 under the Alien Enemies Act. Government lawyers call the judge's questions “grave encroachments on core aspects of absolute and unreviewable Executive Branch authority relating to national security, foreign relations and foreign policy.” —About 10:30 a.m.: Boasberg pushes back against the Justice Department's request to suspend his order for more information, saying “Although their grounds for such request at first blush are not persuasive, the Court will extend the deadline for one more day.”