June 4 (UPI) -- A federal judge on Wednesday ruled at least 137 migrants sent to a mega-prison in El Salvador on flights in mid-March must be allowed to challenge their removal under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act.

District Judge James Boasberg in Washington, D.C., issued a 69-page ruling that the Department of Homeland Security had "improperly" sent migrants on flights from Texas to El Salvador's maximum security prison without giving them a chance to challenge their designation as "alien enemies."

The ruling doesn't apply to El Salvador national Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was deported to the prison from Maryland and also didn't have a hearing.

"Absent this relief, the Government could snatch anyone off the street, turn him over to a foreign country, and then effectively foreclose any co

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