A US federal judge ordered the Trump administration Monday to explain the deportation of more than 200 alleged Venezuelan gang members under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 despite a court order not to do so.

According to CNN, US District Judge James Boasberg stated during a hearing that he wanted “the government to submit by tomorrow afternoon answers to questions about the deportation flights, including the specific times they left US airspace, landed in Central American countries and turned over their occupants to the foreign nations.” White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said at a press briefing Monday that “all flights subject to Boasberg’s Saturday order had taken off prior to its issuance.” 

Leavitt added that:

The written order and the Administration’s actions do not conflict. Moreover, as the Supreme Court has repeatedly made clear — federal courts generally have no jurisdiction over the President’s conduct of foreign affairs, his authorities under the Alien Enemies Act, and his core Article II powers to remove foreign alien terrorists from U.S. soil and repel a declared invasion.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a motion on Monday in opposition to the government’s explanation of its actions, noting that “whether or not the planes had cleared U.S. territory, the U.S. retained custody at least until the planes landed and the individuals were turned over to foreign governments.”

The Department of Justice has waived federal indictments against one of the detainees, Cesar Humberto Lopez-Larios, who was originally arrested in Houston for directing a transnational criminal enterprise in the United States, known as “MS-13.” Lopez-Larios will now be tried in El Salvador.