Donald Trump’s DOJ Fires Back at Judge Fighting to Keep Illegal Alien Terrorists in America

The Justice Department pushed back against U.S. District Judge James Boasberg on Wednesday, accusing him of “digressive micromanagement” in a legal dispute over deportation flights that sent Venezuelan nationals to El Salvador over the weekend.

The dispute stems from a court order issued by Boasberg on Saturday, which temporarily blocked deportations for 14 days while the legality of using the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan nationals, including alleged members of the violent Tren de Aragua gang, was reviewed.

Despite this order, two planes carrying over 200 migrants were reportedly deported before the ruling took effect.

Today, the first 238 members of the Venezuelan criminal organization, Tren de Aragua, arrived in our country. They were immediately transferred to CECOT, the Terrorism Confinement Center, for a period of one year (renewable).

The United States will pay a very low fee for them,… pic.twitter.com/tfsi8cgpD6

— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) March 16, 2025

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Boasberg, in response to the Justice Department’s insistence that the flights did not violate his order, demanded answers to five questions regarding the flights’ timing and destinations.

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The judge ordered the Justice Department to submit declarations under seal by noon on Wednesday, detailing specifics such as the plane’s departure time, airspace exit, landing times in foreign countries, transfer of detainees, and the number of individuals deported solely under the presidential proclamation.

In a court filing co-signed by Attorney General Pamela Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, and others, the Justice Department strongly objected to Boasberg’s demands.

“The Court has now spent more time trying to ferret out information about the Government’s flight schedules and relations with foreign countries than it did in investigating the facts before certifying the class action in this case,” the filing stated.

The department argued that the case had been derailed by unnecessary fact-finding rather than focusing on legal issues.

The Justice Department also suggested it might invoke the state secrets privilege regarding portions of the requested information.

“Defendants are currently evaluating whether to invoke the state secrets privilege as to portions of the information sought by this Court’s order,” the filing stated, emphasizing that such a decision involved “weighty considerations” that could not be resolved within the 21-hour deadline imposed by the court.

Further, the department asserted that Boasberg’s continued demands intruded upon executive authority.

“The underlying premise of these orders, including the most recent one requiring the production of these facts ex parte today at noon, is that the Judicial Branch is superior to the Executive Branch, particularly on non-legal matters involving foreign affairs and national security. The Government disagrees,” the filing read.

The Justice Department warned that disclosing certain details about the flights could have international consequences.

“Disclosure of the information sought could implicate the affairs of United States allies and their cooperation with the United States Government in fighting terrorist organizations,” the filing stated.

It added that such a release could “unquestionably create serious repercussions for the Executive Branch’s ability to conduct foreign affairs.”

Boasberg responded on Wednesday by extending the deadline by one day, giving the Justice Department until Thursday to provide the requested information or formally invoke the state secrets privilege.

“Mere hours before their filing deadline and characterizing the Court’s proceedings as ‘a picayune dispute over the micromanagement of immaterial factfinding,’ Defendants seek to stay the Court’s Order requiring them to produce in camera particular information,” Boasberg wrote.

“Although their grounds for such request at first blush are not persuasive, the Court will extend the deadline for one more day.”

The judge defended his decision, arguing that the information was necessary to determine whether the government had willfully disregarded his orders.

“The Court seeks this information, not as a ‘micromanaged and unnecessary judicial fishing expedition,’ but to determine if the Government deliberately flouted its Orders issued on March 15, 2025, and, if so, what the consequences should be,” Boasberg stated.

Boasberg originally ruled in favor of plaintiffs represented by Democracy Forward and the ACLU, who argued that the deportations posed an imminent and “irreparable” harm to the illegal aliens.

As part of his emergency order, the judge directed the Trump administration to halt any deportations and to notify clients that “any plane containing these folks that is going to take off or is in the air needs to be returned to the United States.”

However, by the time the ruling was issued, a plane carrying more than 130 individuals removed under the Alien Enemies Act had already departed.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that the plane had already “left U.S. airspace” before the order was handed down.

The dispute now hinges on whether the Justice Department will comply with Boasberg’s demands or formally invoke the state secrets privilege, potentially escalating the legal battle over the administration’s authority in handling deportations and foreign policy.

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