Washington DC - A judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the return of some of the nearly 140 Venezuelans who were deported last year using an obscure wartime law.

The ruling by District Judge James Boasberg is the latest blow to President Donald Trump's efforts to use the Alien Enemies Act to carry out his immigration crackdown.

The US sent the Venezuelans to a notorious prison in El Salvador in March, justifying their removal by citing the AEA, the law from 1798 that was last used to round up Japanese-American citizens during World War II.

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The migrants, whom the US claimed were members of the Tren de Aragua gang, were later transferred from El Salvador to Venezuela in a prisoner swap.

Boasberg said any of the Venezuelans who are now in third countries should be allowed to return to the US so they can challenge their deportation under the AEA or seek to prove that they are not members of Tren de Aragua.

"We are not talking about a substantial number of people," the judge said.

He said anyone taking advantage of the offer would be taken into custody upon arrival and subject to possible removal if their legal challenges failed.

Boasberg said that because of "foreign affairs concern" his ruling does not apply to any members of the deported group who are currently in Venezuela, which he described as a country "in flux."

The judge also renewed his criticism of the Trump administration's deportation of the migrants.

"Our starting point is the Court's prior finding that the deportees were denied due process," he said. "It is worth emphasizing that this situation would never have arisen had the Government simply afforded Plaintiffs their constitutional rights before initially deporting them."

Several federal courts around the country have ruled that the use of the AEA to carry out deportations was unlawful.

The AEA allows the government to detain and deport citizens of hostile foreign nations in times of war or during an "invasion or predatory incursion."