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Using the “state secrets privilege,” three senior members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet have denied the judge additional details regarding planes to deport hundreds of Venezuelans under the Alien Enemies Act.
Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg attempted to halt two deportation aircraft on March 15 but they seemed to take off in spite of his written and verbal directives. While considering whether the government disregarded him, he requested that details regarding the number of passengers on the flights, their departure time from U.S. airspace, their landing location, and their takeoff and landing times be made public.
In court filings late Monday, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem all stated that the information could not be released because it could jeopardize international relations or national security.
USA Today reported, Trump referred to the Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization and ordered those suspected of being involved to leave the nation.
“The is a case about the President’s plenary authority…to remove from the homeland designated terrorists participating in a state-sponsored invasion and predatory incursion into the United States,” Bondi said in a filing. “The Court has all of the facts it needs to address the compliance issues before it.”
“Further intrusions on the Executive Branch would present dangerous and wholly unwarranted separation-of-powers harms with respect to diplomatic and national security concerns that the Court lacks competence to address,” Bondi said in a filing.
Boasberg reiterated his decision to forbid any deportation flights under the Alien Enemies Act until those suspected of belonging to Tren de Aragua have been given the opportunity to refute their membership in the gang, as was already done by a number of them in court records.
“As the Government itself concedes, the awesome power granted by the Act may be brought to bear only on those who are, in fact, ‘alien enemies.’” Boasberg wrote. “And the Supreme Court and this Circuit have long maintained that federal courts are equipped to adjudicate that question when individuals threatened with detention and removal challenge their designation as such.”
Government attorneys indicated they might present another argument on Tuesday as to why they haven’t disregarded Boasberg’s directives. Attorneys have previously stated that no flights took off following Boasberg’s written ruling and that his verbal order could not be enforced.
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