an 18th-century wartime law, while a court fight continues.

The emergency appeal to the high court follows a rejection of the Republican administration’s plea to the federal appeals court in Washington. By a two-to-one vote, a panel of appellate judges left in place an order temporarily prohibiting deportations of the migrants under the rarely used Alien Enemies Act

The Justice Department argued in court papers that federal courts shouldn’t interfere with sensitive diplomatic negotiations. It also claimed that migrants should make their case in a federal court in Texas, where they are being detained.

The order temporarily blocking the deportations was issued by US District Judge James E. Boasberg, the chief judge at the federal courthouse in Washington (Jamaica Gleaner/AP)