A federal judge attempting to block the Trump administration’s deportation efforts under the Alien Enemies Act ordered the Justice Department on Monday to give him more detailed information on the deportation flights of suspected gang members to El Salvador over the weekend.
United States District Judge James Boasberg ordered the DOJ to provide a sworn declaration by noon ET on Tuesday.
The move comes after the Trump administration did not turn around flights carrying around 250 illegal immigrants believed to be associated with violent gangs like Tren de Aragua after a Saturday order from Boasberg.
After the DOJ said it could not answer several of Boasberg’s demands because of national security concerns, the liberal judge gave the Trump administration the deadline to file additional justifications.
“If the government takes the position that it will not provide that information to the Court under any circumstances, it must support such position, including with classified authorities if necessary,” the judge said.
That directive came after a lawyer for the DOJ said that the judge was asking about “operational issues” that the defense was not authorized to provide further information on.
During the hearing, Boasberg and the DOJ clashed over the Trump administration’s decision to finish the deportation flights to El Salvador despite his order.
“You’re saying that you felt that you could disregard it because it wasn’t a written order,” Boasberg said.
The Trump administration has argued that the order didn’t apply because the flights were already over international waters and that the judge had no authority to intervene because of national security concerns.
“It wasn’t until this flight was already in international waters heading down to El Salvador that the judge made some comment about returning the flights,” border czar Tom Homan said on Monday. “We’re already in international waters. We’re outside the borders of the United States.”
On Monday, the DOJ asked a federal appeals court to intervene and take Boasberg off the case, saying he was undermining national security.
“The Government cannot—and will not—be forced to answer sensitive questions of national security and foreign relations in a rushed posture without orderly briefing and a showing that these questions are somehow material to a live issue. Answering them, especially on the proposed timetable, is flagrantly improper and presents grave risks to the conduct of the Government in areas wholly unsuited to micromanagement supervision by a district court judge,” the DOJ said.
