On Monday, Attorney General Pam Bondi said that the Trump administration would “absolutely” continue expelling Venezuelan immigrants from the U.S., despite a federal judge’s order temporarily halting the deportations.
“These are foreign terrorists, that the president has identified them, and designated them as such, and we will continue to follow the Alien Enemies Act [AEA],” Bondi said on Fox News on Monday.
Chief Judge James Boasberg of the district court for the District of Columbia issued a nationwide temporary restraining order barring the removal of noncitizens in U.S. custody on March 15, after the ACLU, Democracy Forward and the ACLU of the District of Columbia sued the administration, challenging its use of the AEA.
Historically, the AEA grants the president the power to detain, restrict, and deport nationals of a foreign country engaged in active hostilities against the United States during wartime. The plaintiffs argue in the complaint that invoking the law outside its intended wartime context to sidestep domestic legal protections is against federal law and violates due process.
Boasberg agreed with plaintiffs on Saturday, writing in his order restraining the administration from expelling people under the AEA for 14 days that “the President can invoke the AEA only in a state of ‘declared war,’ or when an ‘invasion or predatory incursion is perpetrated, attempted, or threatened against the territory of the United States by any foreign nation or government.’”
At least two flights carrying migrants were already en route to El Salvador and Honduras during this time, but Boasberg had verbally told the administration to halt and turn around all flights. Despite the judge’s instructions, at least one plane landed in El Salvador after his ruling, with passengers handed over to Salvadoran authorities. According to The Washington Post, some deported individuals were reportedly misidentified as gang members and signed deportation papers under the mistaken belief that they would be returned to Venezuela to reunite with their families — only to find themselves sent to a Salvadoran prison instead.
In a court filing, the ACLU and Democracy Forward accused the administration of a “blatant violation” of the restraining order, as senior Trump administration officials openly dismissed the order. Vice President J.D. Vance bragged about the forced transfers on X, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio retweeted a post by El Salvador President Nayib Bukele that mocked the judge’s decision, saying, “Oopsie… Too late,” alongside a laughing emoji.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller also targeted Boasberg and his jurisdiction directly, telling reporters on Monday that “It is without doubt the most unlawful order a judge has issued in our lifetimes.”
“A district court judge has no authority to direct the national security operations of the executive branch. The president has operated the absolute apex of his constitutional authority,” he continued.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed in a statement that Boasberg does not have the authority to interfere with executive powers or foreign affairs. “[F]ederal courts generally have no jurisdiction over the President’s conduct of foreign affairs, his authorities under the Alien Enemies Act, and his core Article II powers to remove foreign alien terrorists from U.S. soil and repel a declared invasion,” she said.
Bondi also criticized Boasberg for trying “to meddle” in foreign affairs, claiming he had overstepped his authority. “You know, this one federal judge again thinks he can control foreign policy for the entire country, and he cannot,” she said on Fox News.
During a fact-finding hearing on Monday afternoon, Boasberg demanded an explanation for the administration’s apparent defiance of his order. “So when I said directly to turn those planes around, the idea that my written order was pithier, that this could be disregarded, that’s a heck of a stretch,” he said.
Boasberg then ordered the government to respond on Tuesday to a series of questions about the flights, their passengers, and the precise timing of Trump’s proclamation directing the removal of alleged gang members. He also demanded that an additional legal briefing be filed on the case’s arguments.
Despite the court order remaining in effect, U.S. “border czar” Tom Homan told Fox News on Monday, “We’re not stopping.”
“I don’t care what the judges think. I don’t care what the Left thinks. We’re coming,” he added.
While the Justice Department has appealed the nationwide restraining order to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit., the Trump administration is also seeking to transfer the case to a different judge. Meanwhile, Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) has announced plans to initiate impeachment proceedings against Boasberg, which is part of a broader effort by conservatives to target judges who have issued rulings adverse to Trump’s policies.
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