Trump administration officials announced on Sunday the deportation of hundreds of migrants claiming that the White House is a member of Venezuelan gangster El Salvador under wartime alien enemy law after a judge temporarily blocked the effort Saturday.
“The president has invoked this authority to deport nearly 300 people now in El Salvador, rather than roaming freely in American communities.
Vice President JD Vance added in a post on Sunday night X that President Donald Trump had deported “violent criminals and rapists.”
As alien enemy law allows the government to expel certain citizens at war without trial, it is not clear that the government has determined that nearly 300 men are part of the gang, or that there have been US court hearings or immigration hearings.
The judge on Saturday ordered the deportation flights carrying people covered by the presidential declaration to return to the United States if they are currently flying. However, the ruling did not apply to immigrants who had already landed abroad before the court order, or those who were removed from the country for reasons other than Trump’s declaration.
The government said on Sunday afternoon that “some gang members eligible for removal under the declaration had already been removed from US territory” before the court order was issued.
However, it is unclear whether any of those who had already landed in El Salvador before the judge’s verdict had ignored the order.
In a statement Sunday, Leavit denied that the White House violated the court’s orders, saying all deportations under Trump’s declaration “have been banned from all deportations issued after the terrorists. [Tren De Aragua] The aliens had already been removed from US territory. ”
“Written orders and administration actions are not disputed. Furthermore, as the Supreme Court has repeatedly made clear, federal courts generally have no jurisdiction over the conduct of presidential diplomacy, his authorities under the alien enemy laws, and his core Section II excludes foreign alien terrorists from the US soil and repeals declared infringement.”
Two Trump administration officials told NBC News they hope that the court will ultimately head to the Supreme Court over the president’s use of alien enemy law.
On Saturday, Trump called for the 1798 alien enemy law, a rarely used authority. But prior to his declaration, the American Civil Liberties Union and the democratic forward filed a lawsuit that they were preparing to use alien enemy laws to deport five Venezuelan men.
The federal judge initially issued a temporary restraining order to prevent the administration from deporting five men under the alien enemy laws, and disrupted the use of all non-US citizens who were later detained and exposed to Trump’s declarations for deportation.
“A plane that includes these people who take off or are in the air will need to be returned to the United States,” said Supreme Court Judge James Boasberg, U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., on Saturday. “These people need to be returned to the US.”
Sources familiar with the matter said two flights carrying the Venezuelan were in transit during the judge’s verdict. NBC News could not confirm if the flight had revolved following the order.
It took off from Harlingen, Texas on Saturday afternoon and landed at El Salvador International Airport about an hour after the judge’s verdict, according to the flight tracking database of NBC News Analysis. El Salvador President Naive Buquer posted a video on X on Sunday. This appears to indicate that several deportations from the blue “Global X” plane have been ruled out and are falling into custody of heavily armed Salvadora authorities.
NBC News cannot confirm whether the flight that landed in El Salvador carrying the Venezuelans was the two flights that were in the air at the time of the judge’s order.
Lee Gelernt, the lawyer who argued for the ACLU case, said on Sunday that his team had asked the government “in violation of the order to ensure no one was taken away. The government had not responded early in the afternoon, Gelern said.
New York University law professor Stephen Gillers said the country could squeeze barrels towards a constitutional crisis if the administration is allowed to violate a court order with “immunity.”
“Now that Congress is subordinate to the White House wishes, the judiciary is the final check on the president’s dictatorial use of power,” Gillers said. “The question before the country is whether judges will use their light empt and other powers to resist the elimination of checks and balances to protect the rule of law.”
Trump administration officials promoted deportation on Sunday. Secretary of State Marco Rubio thanked Buquere, saying in a statement he “voluntarily volunteered to jail these violent criminals.” Rubio said “Hundreds of violent criminals have been sent from our country.”
Leavitt also said, “Thanks to the great work of the State Department, these vicious monsters have been extracted and taken away by El Salvador, making it impossible to pose a threat to the American people.”
Neither Rubio nor Leavit’s statement referred to the judge’s orders or detailed whether the administration is in compliance.
Rubio also mentioned in an interview with CBS News’ “Face the Nation” that he hopes to “get rid of Tren de Aragua members.”
Asked about the arrest of activist Mahmoud Khalil, Rubio pointed to the actions taken against Tren de Aragua about whether only those who express support for the Palestinians can cancel their visas.
“We want to remove the members of the Tren de Aragua gang, and they are terrorists too,” Rubio said. “The president designated them. He asked them to be designated as a terrorist organization. We want to remove them too.”
Buquere said on Sunday at X that 238 members of Tren de Aragua had arrived in the country “today.” The US has also deported 23 MS-13 members to El Salvador, Bukere added. Also on Sunday, Bukel posted a headline image about the judge’s order, writing in a laughing emoji that “Boobs…too late.”
Yamiche Arcindor, Sarah Dean and David Rode contributed.
This article was originally published on nbcnews.com. For more information about NBC News, click here:
Source link
