Noem made decision to continue deportation flights to El Salvador, justice department says | Trump administration
The Justice Department said in a statement that it was Department of Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem who made the decision in March to continue deportation flights of Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador despite a federal judge’s order that the flights be returned to the United States.
In a court of law filing On Tuesday, the justice department said “Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Principal Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, through DHS Acting General Counsel Joseph Mazzara, provided legal advice to DHS regarding the court order regarding flights departing from the United States” and that “after receiving this legal advice, Secretary Noem directed that EEA detainees removed from the United States prior to the Court’s order be transferred to El Salvador custody.”
The Department of Justice argued that “as explained below, this decision was lawful and consistent with a reasonable interpretation of the Court’s decision.”
The filing comes as U.S. district judge James Boasberg recently resumed his investigation into whether the Trump administration violated his March orders to halt deportation flights.
That month, the Trump administration had invoked the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act, designed primarily for wartime use, to deport nearly 250 alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador’s CECOT megaprison.
Boasberg quickly filed a temporary restraining order and issued a verbal order ordering the deportation flights already in the air to be returned to the United States.
However, the White House insisted that the detainees were no longer on US soil when the order came, and claimed that the decision was not valid and therefore the planes were not turned away.
In Tuesday’s filing, the justice department argued that the administration “did not violate” Boasberg’s order.
“While the substance of the legal advice given to DHS and Secretary Noem was privileged, the government repeatedly explained in its own briefs to both appellate courts why its actions did not violate the court’s order or even constitute contempt,” the government wrote.
“In particular, the written order of the court did not purport to demand the return of previously removed detainees and was not a binding measure after the previous oral order, especially the written order.”
The White House and DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new application.
After spending several months in a notorious El Salvador prison, the Venezuelan citizens were returned to Venezuela in July under an agreement between the U.S. and Venezuelan governments.
