Top Trump administration officials—including the president, vice president, attorney general, and secretary of state—openly celebrated the deportation of hundreds of Venezuelan immigrants over the weekend in defiance of a federal judge’s order to halt the removals, which were carried out under a 1798 law that plainly states it is only operative in the context of a declared war.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance wrote late Sunday that “there were violent criminals and rapists in our country” and “President [Donald] Trump deported them.” There was no due process for the more than 200 Venezuelans whom the Trump administration claims are gang members.

Vance’s social media post, which came in response to reporting about the White House’s acknowledgment that it ignored the court order blocking the deportations, was met with disgust and alarm.

“You are beyond vile,” political scientist Norman Ornstein wrote. “You have no idea if the ones that were picked up and sent illegally to an El Salvador prison are all violent criminals. You abused the plain language of the law, gave them no due process, and defied a legitimate court order. This is American Gestapo.”