Homeland Security secretary directed deportation of Venezuelans to El Salvador despite judge's order, Justice Department says

WASHINGTON (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem directed the transfer of more than 200 Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador in March despite an emergency court order to halt the deportations, the Justice Department disclosed Tuesday in a filing that escalates a contempt inquiry into the Trump administration's immigration enforcement.

The revelation, the first public accounting of Noem's role, comes as U.S. District Judge James Boasberg revives his probe into whether officials willfully defied his March 15 order blocking use of the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua without due process. The migrants, accused of gang ties, were flown to El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison, where human rights groups alleged abusive conditions; they were later released in a prisoner swap with Venezuela.

According to the filing, senior Justice Department officials, including Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and then-Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, relayed Boasberg's oral and written orders to DHS Acting General Counsel Joseph Mazzara that evening. The flights had already departed U.S. airspace when the orders were issued.

"After receiving that legal advice, Secretary Noem directed that the AEA detainees who had been removed from the United States before the Court’s order could be transferred to the custody of El Salvador," the department wrote, adding that the decision was "lawful and was consistent with a reasonable interpretation of the Court’s order."

The government argued Boasberg's oral directive to immediately return the planes was nonbinding and that his written order did not apply to flights already in progress. "Accordingly, the government maintains that its actions did not violate the Court’s order — certainly not with the clarity required for criminal contempt — and no further proceedings are warranted or appropriate," the filing stated.

Boasberg, who last week said he intends to proceed "promptly" on the inquiry, ordered both sides to submit witness lists and proposed deadlines. He expressed interest in testimony from DOJ whistleblower Erez Reuveni, who alleged Bove suggested ignoring court orders (an accusation Bove denies), and from DOJ Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign.

Earlier Tuesday, lawyers for the deported migrants urged Boasberg to compel testimony from nine senior officials, including Bove — now a confirmed federal judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals — and Reuveni. They proposed starting live testimony in early December.

The administration is expected to resist such efforts. The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in March that Boasberg lacked jurisdiction over the migrants' emergency challenge but later blocked further Alien Enemies Act deportations. A divided appeals court in August tossed an earlier contempt bid.

The case has drawn sharp criticism from President Donald Trump, who has called Boasberg an "activist judge," and from congressional Republicans upset over the judge's handling of related subpoenas in special counsel Jack Smith's probe. Boasberg, appointed by President Barack Obama, appeared undeterred, telling lawyers last week: "This has been sitting for a long time, and I believe justice requires me to move promptly on this."

The Justice Department declined to comment on the plaintiffs' witness request or potential administration responses.

--REAL AMERICAS VOICE

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