A federal judge Thursday barred the Trump administration from deporting any Venezuelans from south Texas under the centuries-old Alien Enemies Act. 

The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. also states President Donald Trump’s use of the law is “unlawful,” according to the Associated Press.

Rodriguez is the first judge to rule the act cannot be used against people whom the administration has found to gang members from a country invading the United States.

“Neither the Court nor the parties question that the Executive Branch can direct the detention and removal of aliens who engage in criminal activity in the United States,” wrote Rodriguez, who was nominated by Trump in 2018. 

But he also said “the President’s invocation of the AEA through the Proclamation exceeds the scope of the statute and is contrary to the plain, ordinary meaning of the statute’s terms," the wire service also reports.