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WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� A panel of appeals court judges appeared divided Monday on a Trump administration push to lift an order blocking deportation of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador under an 18th century wartime law 鈥� a case that has become a flashpoint amid escalating tension with the federal courts.

Circuit Court Judge Patricia Millett said Nazis detained in the U.S. during World World II received better legal treatment than Venezuelan immigrants who were were deported to El Salvador this month under the same statute.

鈥淲e certainly dispute the Nazi analogy,鈥� Justice Department attorney Drew Ensign responded during a hearing of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Millett is one of three appellate judges who will decide whether to lift a March 15 order temporarily prohibiting deportations under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. They didn’t rule from the bench Monday.

A second judge appeared open to the administration鈥檚 argument that the migrants should be challenging their detention in Texas rather than the nation鈥檚 capital. The third judge on the panel didn鈥檛 ask any questions.

The administration has transferred hundreds of Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador, invoking the Alien Enemies Act for the first time since World War II.

President Donald Trump’s administration appealed after Chief Judge James Boasberg blocked those deportations and ordered planeloads of Venezuelan immigrants to return to the U.S. That did not happen.

The Alien Enemies Act allows noncitizens to be deported without the opportunity to go before an immigration or federal court judge. Trump issued a proclamation calling the Tren de Aragua gang an invading force.

Ensign argued that Boasberg鈥檚 ruling was an 鈥渦nprecedented and enormous intrusion upon the powers of the executive branch.鈥�

鈥淭he president has to comply with the Constitution and the laws like anyone else,鈥� said MiIlett, who was nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama in 2013.

Judge Justin Walker, whom Trump nominated in 2020, seemed to be more receptive to the administration鈥檚 arguments based on his line of questioning. Walker pointed to the government鈥檚 arguments that the plaintiffs should have filed their lawsuit in Texas, where the immigrants were detained.

鈥淵ou could have filed the exact same complaint you filed here in Texas district court,鈥� Walker told American Civil Liberties Union attorney Lee Gelernt.

鈥淲e have no idea if everyone is in Texas,鈥� Gelernt said.

Walker also pressed the plaintiffs鈥� lawyer to cite any prior case in which a judicial order blocking 鈥渁 national security operation with foreign implications鈥� survived appellate review.

Gelernt accused the administration of trying to use the law to 鈥渟hort circuit鈥� immigration proceedings. Plaintiffs鈥� attorneys had no way to individually challenge all the deportations before planeloads of Venezuelans took off on March 15, he added.

鈥淭his has all been done in secret,鈥� Gelernt said.

Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson, who was nominated by Republican President George H.W. Bush in 1990, was the third judge on the panel. She didn鈥檛 ask any questions during a hearing that lasted roughly two hours.

Boasberg, an Obama nominee, ruled that immigrants facing deportation must get an opportunity to challenge their designations as alleged gang members. He said there is 鈥渁 strong public interest in preventing the mistaken deportation of people based on categories they have no right to challenge.鈥�

鈥淭he public also has a significant stake in the Government鈥檚 compliance with the law,鈥� .

Trump and his allies have called for impeaching Boasberg. In a rare statement, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts said 鈥渋mpeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.鈥�

Just after midnight Monday, Trump posted a social media message questioning Boasberg’s impartiality and calling for him to be disbarred. Trump reposted an article about Boasberg’s attendance at a legal conference that purportedly featured 鈥渁nti-Trump speakers.鈥�

During a hearing Friday, Boasberg vowed to determine whether the government defied his oral order from the bench to turn planes around. The Justice Department has said that the judge鈥檚 oral directions did not count, that only his written order needed to be followed and that it couldn鈥檛 apply to flights that had already left the U.S.