Kri Noem decided to continue El Salvador deportation flights despite court order, says DOJ | World News
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kri Noem. (Photo: AP)
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has told a court that it was Homeland Security Secretary Kri Noem who took the final call to defy a judge’s order in March to halt the deportation of Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador, and turn around the aircraft carrying them.
The DOJ, on Tuesday, made the admission to US Drict Judge James Boasberg, who had sought the adminration identify officials involved in authorising an unprecedented deportation.
Inmates stand inside a jail during a media tour at the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) prison, in Tecoluca, El Salvador. (Photo: Reuters)
Judge initiates contempt proceedings
Judge Boasberg had on March 15 made the oral order, followed a written order the same day to halt the deportations of alleged Venezuelan members of the Tren de Aragua gang to the notorious CECOT prison in El Salvador.
Last week he resumed contempt proceedings to find out which Trump adminration officials were responsible for violating his orders.
What DOJ said
According to Politico, the DOJ officials said Noem’s decision was informed legal advice from the top levels of the Justice Department, including Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and then-Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, and the Department of Homeland Security.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kri Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill)
That advice was based on the argument that Judge Boasberg’s oral order to turn around the deportation flights had no force. Regarding Judge Boasberg’s written order, they argued that it was ineffective because the flights had already left US airspace.
“That decision was lawful and was consent with a reasonable interpretation of the Court’s order,” Justice Department attorney Tiberius Davis wrote in the filing.
Trump’s deportation blitz
The deportation of the Venezuelan men to El Salvador was one of the most high-profile showdowns between the Trump adminration and the courts since the mass expulsions began.
US military personnel escort an alleged gang member who was deported the US along with other members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and the MS-13 gang to be imprisoned in the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) prison, at the El Salvador International Airport. (Photo: Reuters)
The adminration had invoked the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act to carry out the deportations, a key promise of Trump during the election campaign.
The AEA 1798 gives the adminration wartime authority used to remove noncitizens without due process. The Trump adminration had argued that the illegal immigrants from Venezuela were members of the Tren de Aragua gang and were involved in a “hybrid criminal state” that is invading the United States.
