A D.C. federal judge blocked a bid by the Trump administration to restart removals under the Alien Enemies Act in a thundering Monday order. Chief D.C. judge James Boasberg denied a request from the administration to overturn an earlier freeze he put in place on removals of Venezuelans under the proclamation.

The administration is invoking an extraordinary national security power, the state secrets privilege, under highly unusual circumstances.

A federal judge on Monday reaffirmed a ruling that blocks President Donald Trump from using wartime powers to summarily deport alleged gang members. The new development from U.S. District Judge James Boasberg came just hours in advance of a critical courtroom showdown before a federal appeals court on Trump’s deportation authority.

The Trump administration has invoked a “state secrets privilege” and refused to give a federal judge any additional information about the deportation of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador — a case tha