A federal judge burned Trump administration lawyers on Friday to deport Venezuelans to El Salvador, despite previous court orders expressly blocking the move.
During the alleged hearing, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg keenly questioned the Associate Attorney General about why the Associate Deputy Attorney General had failed to comply with the emergency court order that temporarily blocked the use of the 1798 alien enemy law.
At least 261 migrants were deported from the United States to El Salvador on Saturday. This includes more than 100 Venezuelan nationals who will be removed “under” the law temporarily blocked by the court.
Boasberg used the first part of Friday’s hearing to document details about the government’s deportation flights to El Salvador.
“Sorryly insufficient”: US judge reems Trump administrators for day deportation information
US District Judge James Boasberg (Getty)
“Why was this declaration signed in the dark early on Saturday morning, Friday, and did these people rush to the plane?” Boasberg asked a Justice Department lawyer. “For me, the only reason to do that is to know the issue and want to leave the state before the lawsuit is filed.”
Also, when Boasberg ordered the Trump administration to temporarily suspend planned removal of Venezuelan immigrants subject to alien enemy laws, he was forced to sign at length about what he knew at last week’s court hearing.
Boasberg also issued control of the bench on Saturday ordering the immediate return of planes deporting Venezuelan citizens who were targeted for deportation under the alien enemy laws.
Judge v Trump: The main court battle to stop the White House agenda is here
“When we had a conversation on Saturday, can you ask you now how you interpreted that statement?” he asked Eisen. “Did you not understand my statement during that hearing?”
“I said there were no details about the flight, so I took a 38-minute break to find out more,” the judge reminded Ensign. “And when you came back, and even if the flight was in the air, did you express that you had no flight details?”
“That’s right,” Chika sign responded, telling the judge that no one would give him the information he asked about the deportation. “I didn’t know they were in the air,” he said.
Personal lawyers for former President Donald Trump, Todd Blanche, Emil Bove and John Lauro will leave the federal court in Washington, DC in 2024 (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Boasberg ordered Trump administration officials to explain by Tuesday why they failed to comply with the orders requiring deportation flights to return home.
The judge acknowledged that the Trump administration has “a wide latitude” to enforce immigration laws, but he repeatedly expressed frustration that he was unable to answer key questions about the government and its flight.
Who is James Boasberg, a US judge at the heart of Trump’s deportation efforts?
He repeated these concerns on Friday, raising new concerns about the administration’s apparent rebellion against a clear federal judge.
“The hypothesis is scary,” Judge Boasberg told Eisen. “If the court cannot review the administration’s use of the wartime deportation law, he said, “The president can say that everyone is invading. When some foreign fishermen come to the waters of the United States, the president can say that it is an invasion,” Boasberg pointed out.
“You’re going to say it’s amazing too,” he said.
“It’s up to the council,” Eisen replied.
President Donald Trump arrives with Attorney General Pam Bondy to speak at Washington’s Department of Justice on March 14, 2025 (Pool via the Associated Press)
In a court order filed Thursday, Boasberg accused Justice Department lawyers of failing to answer his questions about deportation flights, noting that government “against that obligation” and even after they let them do so under seal.
It remains unclear whether the Trump administration will invoke national secret privileges in court battles, allowing them to withhold certain information for national security purposes.
In a court declaration filed Friday morning, U.S. Associate Attorney General Todd Blanche told Boasberg he was aware of cabinet-level debate calling that privilege. They were able to present that argument at the Court of Appeals hearing next week.
Invoking that privilege is “a serious issue that requires careful consideration of national security and diplomatic relations, and cannot be taken appropriately in just 24 hours,” Blanche told the court on Friday.
Click here to get the Fox News app
President Donald Trump called for his side in a social media post Friday to move to restrain the Supreme Court from over 300 federal judges who blocked his executive orders and actions.
In the Truth Social Post, Trump imported the Supreme Court, saying that he would “stop the national injunction before it’s too late.”
“If Judge Roberts and the US Supreme Court do not immediately correct this toxic and unprecedented situation, our country is in very serious trouble!” he said.
Breanne Deppisch is a political reporter for Fox News Digital, covering the Trump administration, focusing on the Department of Justice, the FBI and other national news.
Source link
