Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - A federal judge in Pennsylvania has ruled that Donald Trump may invoke the Alien Enemies Act to deport certain Venezuelan nationals.

US District Judge Stephanie Haines became the first to uphold Trump's use of the 1798 wartime law to deport people the administration has accused of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang, which the president has designated a foreign terrorist organization.

Trump earlier this year deported over 100 Venezuelans from the US to El Salvador's notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) mega prison within hours of invoking the Alien Enemies Act. The law enables the president to expel noncitizens ages 14 and up in cases of "invasion or predatory incursion."

Haines in her 43-page ruling affirmed that Trump may expel people who are members of a foreign terrorist organization under the law.

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"Having done its job, the Court now leaves it to the Political Branches of the government, and ultimately to the people who elect those individuals, to decide whether the laws and those executing them continue to reflect their will," the Trump-appointed judge wrote.

Haines did rule that the administration is not giving people it targets for deportation under the Alien Enemies Act sufficient notice. She mandated the government provide give those people 21 days notice both in English and Spanish.

Haines' decision – which stands in opposition to previous rulings on the question – sparked criticism from immigrants' rights advocates.

"I find Judge Haines' reasoning weak," Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, wrote on X after the decision.

"Even accepting her definition of 'predatory incursion' as encompassing internal terrorist acts like mass shootings, I find her holding on the factual basis for the proclamation to be exceptionally weak," Reichlin-Melnick continued. "Drug smuggling, even with nefarious intent, is not like a terrorist attack!"

Haines' ruling – which will face an appeal – only applies to the Western district of Pennsylvania. It is likely to increase pressure on the Supreme Court to take up the issue.