Trump Admin Defends Not Turning Around Plane Full Of Venezuelan Gang Members

Members of the Trump administration said Monday that they could not comply with a federal judge’s order to return a plane full of illegal alien gang members back to the United States because the plane was already over international waters when the order was issued. 

“It wasn’t until this flight was in international waters heading down to El Salvador that the judge made some comment about returning the flights. We are already in international waters. We’re outside the borders of the United States. I’m the border czar. Once you are outside the border, you know, it is what it is,” Border Czar Tom Homan stated during a Fox News interview Monday.

Over the weekend, President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to round up and swiftly deport members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang.

On Sunday night, Chief Judge of the Washington, DC Circuit Court of Appeals James Boasberg nearly halted Trump’s deportation flight of roughly 300 gang members to the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in El Salvador after he claimed that five of the passengers had not yet been cleared for deportation. 

The Obama-appointed judge then issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to prohibit the Trump administration from conducting deportations within the next two weeks, and ordered the administration to appear in Federal Court on March 21st. (RELATED: ‘Sanctuary Sheriff’ Refuses To Comply With ICE Detainers, Calling Them ‘Unconstitutional’)

Homan explained that Trump’s actions were justified, as he “invoked the authorities of the Alien Enemies Act,” as the legal basis for the mass deportation, “which he has the right to do.” The law grants the president the authority to pursue expedited removals of foreign nationals during times of war or an invasion. 

Homan concluded the interview by stating that the mounting opposition from the judicial systems and his political opponents will not deter the president from making “America safe again.” 

“Every criminal alien, every criminal public statement threat, and national security threat removed from this country makes this country safer,” Homan asserted. “Everyday, the men and women of ICE are going to be in the neighborhoods of this nation arresting criminal illegal aliens, public safety threats and national security threats.”

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

Similarly, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt held a press conference on Monday morning and said that the judge’s order to stop the flight had “no lawful basis.” 

“The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist [Tren de Aragua] aliens had already been removed from U.S. territory,” Leavitt said. “The written order and the administration’s actions do not conflict.”

“Moreover, as the Supreme Court has repeatedly made clear, federal courts generally have no jurisdiction over the president’s conduct of foreign affairs, his authorities under the Alien Enemies Act, and his core Article II powers to remove foreign alien terrorists from U.S. soil and repel a declared invasion,” Leavitt added. (RELATED: Trump Administration Set To Deport Hezbollah Member Who Crossed Border Under Biden ‘To Make A Bomb)

“A single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft carrier full of foreign alien terrorists who were physically expelled from U.S. soil,” Leavitt concluded.