Judge gives DOJ Tuesday deadline in Venezuelan deportations case

Axios

17-03-2025

A federal judge gave the Justice Department a Tuesday deadline to provide additional information on the Trump administration's defiance of a court order halting deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members, according to a court docket.
The big picture: The Trump administration's decision to disregard the judge's order sets up a high stakes battle between the power of the executive and judicial branches.
Driving the news: The Department of Justice on Monday asked to cancel a hearing in the case scheduled for later that afternoon, stating it would not be providing any more information about the flights, but U.S. District Judge James Boasberg denied the request.
Attorneys for the DOJ argued during the hearing that no deportation flights took off from the U.S. after Boasberg's Saturday order, per the New York Times.
They also argued his order issued verbally from the bench was not definitive, as opposed to the written one issued less than an hour later.
ACLU lawyers reiterated their request that the government issue sworn declarations about details on the flights.
Where it stands: Boasberg said he did not plan to issue a ruling Monday and laid out questions he wanted answered by the government by noon Tuesday, according to the NYT.
These center on what time the government believe the judge's order halting the flights went into effect and what time the planes took off and landed, and where.
Boasberg requested they respond to a question about how many people they believe are covered by an 18th century war time law the administration has attempted to use to detain and remove immigrants with little to no due process.
The next hearing is scheduled for 12pm Friday ET.
What they're saying: "After trying to sidestep appearing at today's hearing by asking the court to cancel it, the government came to court today unable to answer basic questions about the fate of men who have not been afforded basic due process as well as its compliance with a federal court order," said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, one of the plaintiffs, in an emailed statement.
"The president is not a king, and every American should be concerned by this illegal expansion of wartime efforts when we are not in fact at war," Perryman continued.
"Every American should also be concerned that the Trump administration has been flagrantly claiming it does not have to abide by district court orders it doesn't agree with. The president is bound by the laws of this nation and we will continue to show up in the courts to ensure this lawless administration is held accountable."
Representatives for the Trump administration did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment in the evening.
Catch up quick: The president invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1789 on Friday night but intentionally did not advertise it, Axios' Marc Caputo reported.
Word of the order leaked Saturday morning, prompting a scramble to get planes off the ground for the deportation of about 250 Venezuelans under the 18th century law.
Though Trump has referred to illegal immigration as an " invasion," Congress had not declared a war.
During a court hearing hours later, Boasberg ordered a halt to the deportations, saying any flights should be turned around mid-air.
The White House did not order the flights to turn around, ignoring Boasberg's order. The administration has argued the flights were over international waters and therefore outside of the court's jurisdiction.
What they're saying: The ACLU asked the court Monday to direct the government to submit sworn declarations clarifying whether the flights took off or landed after the court's order.
"Whether or not the planes had cleared U.S. territory, the U.S. retained custody at least until the planes landed and the individuals were turned over to foreign governments," the ACLU said in its filing.
"The Court could not have been clearer that it was concerned with losing jurisdiction and authority to order the individuals returned if they were handed over to foreign governments," they added.
State of play: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement over the weekend that the judge's order had "no lawful basis" and "was issued after terrorist TdA aliens had already been removed from U.S. territory."
President Trump's border czar Tom Homan on Monday doubled down on the decision, claiming the flights did not need to be turned around because they were already above international waters when the order came through.
"We are not stopping," he said. "I don't care what the judges think."