Judge In Deportation Case Ups The Ante In Fight Over Flight Deportations

A federal judge ruled on Thursday that the Trump administration did not meet a court-mandated deadline to provide information about deportation flights to El Salvador, escalating President Donald Trump’s ongoing legal battle with the judiciary.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg stated that government attorneys failed to deliver the required details concerning the deportation flights—including individuals marked for immediate removal under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act—and did not clarify whether they had intentionally disregarded his court order, according to Fox News.

In a sharply worded order issued Thursday evening, Boasberg criticized the government for having “again evaded its obligations” by neglecting to submit the necessary information, even though he had permitted them to do so confidentially. Although the administration did eventually file the information, it was submitted hours late and failed to sufficiently answer his questions, Fox reported.

The government’s submission consisted of a six-paragraph statement from a regional ICE director in Harlingen, Texas, asserting that Cabinet officials were “actively considering whether to invoke the state secrets [act] privileges over the other facts requested by the Court’s order.”

Boasberg dismissed this explanation, stating: “This is woefully insufficient.”

On Saturday, the judge issued an emergency restraining order that temporarily blocked the Trump administration from using the 1798 law to deport Venezuelan nationals—including suspected members of the Tren de Aragua gang—for 14 days. Additionally, he mandated that any ongoing flights return to the U.S. immediately.

However, within hours, a plane carrying hundreds of deported individuals, including Venezuelan nationals targeted under the law, had already landed in El Salvador.

In response, Boasberg promptly ordered the government to provide more details in a “fact-finding hearing” to determine whether the Trump administration had knowingly violated his order and to account for the total number of individuals deported, Fox reported.

Despite the government repeatedly citing national security concerns, Boasberg instructed officials to submit the information under seal by noon on Thursday.

The judge required that government attorneys disclose specific details regarding Saturday’s deportations, including how many planes transported individuals “solely on the basis” of that proclamation, the number of passengers per flight, their destinations, and the exact takeoff times and locations.

“To begin, the Government cannot proffer a regional ICE official to attest to Cabinet-level discussions of the state-secrets privilege; indeed, his declaration on that point, not surprisingly, is based solely on his unsubstantiated ‘understand[ing],'” Boasberg stated.

He then ordered the Trump administration to submit a brief by March 25, justifying why its failure to return the individuals on the first two planes arriving from El Salvador on March 15 should not be considered a violation of his order, Fox reported.

“By March 21, 2025, at 10:00 a.m., Defendants shall submit a sworn declaration by a person with direct involvement in the Cabinet-level discussions regarding invocation of the state-secrets privilege,” he added.

Previously, Boasberg had cautioned the Trump administration about potential consequences for noncompliance.

Nevertheless, at least one plane carrying deported individuals—reportedly linked to a violent gang—landed in El Salvador later that evening. “Oopsie, too late,” Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele remarked in a post on X.

In the aftermath, government lawyers have refused to provide further details about the deportation flights or confirm whether planes departed U.S. territory after the judge’s order, citing national security concerns.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt criticized Boasberg on Wednesday, arguing that his demands were politically motivated.

“The judge in this case is essentially trying to say the president doesn’t have the executive authority to deport foreign terrorists from our American soil. That is an egregious abuse of the bench,” she stated during a press briefing.