President Trump blasted the courts early Saturday after a federal judge blocked his administration from using the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan gang members.

“Can it be so that Judges aren’t allowing the USA to Deport Criminals, including Murderers, out of our Country and back to where they came from?” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“If this is so, our Country, as we know it, is finished! Americans will have to get used to a very different, crime filled, LIFE. This is not what our Founders had in mind!!!” he added.

The ruling came from U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr., who determined Thursday that the 18th-century law can only be used when an “organized, armed force” threatens the United States, a standard he did not apply to multinational South American gangs.

Rodriguez rejected the administration’s argument that the law could target alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang in his 36-page decision.

“The Proclamation makes no reference to and in no manner suggests that a threat exists of an organized, armed group of individuals entering the United States at the direction of Venezuela to conquer the country or assume control over a portion of the nation,” the judge wrote.

“Thus, the Proclamation’s language cannot be read as describing conduct that falls within the meaning of ‘invasion’ for purposes of the AEA,” he added.

The Alien Enemies Act, part of the four Alien and Sedition Acts signed by President John Adams in 1798, has rarely been invoked in modern times. Trump’s proclamation activating the centuries-old law in March represented a significant shift in immigration enforcement strategy, specifically targeting what the administration describes as transnational criminal organizations.

The administration deported more than 100 men to a high-security prison in El Salvador using the AEA, citing their tattoos and other evidence as proof of gang affiliation.

Continuing Trump’s aggressive immigration agenda, the administration has asked the Supreme Court to end deportation protections for over 600,000 Venezuelans currently covered under Temporary Protected Status, per the Hill.

The case was brought by several Venezuelan nationals who claimed they were wrongfully targeted for deportation. Their attorneys argued that tattoos alone were insufficient evidence of gang affiliation and that many individuals were denied the opportunity to contest the allegations against them.

White House officials confirmed that the Justice Department plans to appeal Rodriguez’s ruling while exploring other legal options to continue the deportation of individuals they identify as gang members. The administration has maintained that aggressive immigration enforcement remains central to its public safety agenda.

Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed a bill into law on Friday to limit the social media use of minors under the age of 16 to one hour per day.

The Consumer Data Protection Act, supported by both Republican and Democrat state lawmakers, will require social media platforms, like Facebook and Instagram, to limit minors’ time on such platforms.

Platforms will use “neutral age screen mechanisms” to determine the age of users and then limit their screen-time accordingly, Wavy.com reported. Parents, per the law, will be required to give “verifiable” consent if they want their child’s time on such apps increased or decreased.

The Consumer Data Protection Act will take effect next year, on January 1, 2026.

Youngkin has long voiced his concerns about children’s exposure to social media. In November, for example, the governor signed an executive order addressing the “youth mental health crisis driven by the effects of unrestricted cell phone use and addictive social media platforms.”

“While social media and the internet have brought many positives to our society, there is a growing consensus that social media is having severe — severe and persistent — negative impacts on our kids,” the governor said back in 2023.

“Children spend on average nearly five hours daily on social media; recent studies have suggested that children who spend more than a few hours per day on social media have double the risk of poor mental health,” Youngkin’s website said at the time. “Through budget proposals, legislation and executive action the youth mental health strategy will address critical components and harmful aspects of social media on our youth.”

Notably, Youngkin actually wanted the Consumer Data Protection Act to go further, restricting social media use daily to one hour for all those under 18 years old. The bill, though, landed at age 16.

The issues with social media have also been recognized by the federal government. In 2023, Biden-era U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory warning that social media use among minors can severely damage mental health.

“The most common question parents ask me is, ‘is social media safe for my kids.’ The answer is that we don’t have enough evidence to say it’s safe, and in fact, there is growing evidence that social media use is associated with harm to young people’s mental health,” Murthy said.

Related: U.S. Surgeon General Issues Advisory About Kids’ Use Of Social Media