US President Donald Trump has invoked a centuries-old law last used during World War II to intern Japanese residents to target a Venezuelan criminal gang.

The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 is a wartime authority that allows a president to detain or deport citizens of an enemy nation, and has been invoked three times.

Now, Trump, who has promised supporters an aggressive drive to deport thousands of undocumented migrants, will attempt to use the law against Venezuelan drug gang Tren de Aragua.

In a proclamation published on Saturday, the White House claimed that the transnational criminal organisation is “closely linked to the government of Venezuela.”

Trump finds that Tren de Aragua is "conducting irregular warfare against the territory of the United States both directly and at the direction, clandestine or otherwise, of the Maduro regime."

The statement gives Trump's Attorney General Pam Bondi 60 days to put the proclamation into effect, making all Tren de Aragua gang members "subject to immediate apprehension, detention, and removal."

The detention and expulsion order will apply to all Venezuelan Tren de Aragua members who are over 14 and not naturalised US citizens or lawful permanent residents.

It was not immediately clear, however, whether the order will go into effect.

Already on Saturday one US judge reportedly preemptively issued an injunction blocking five expulsions.