Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem made the final decision to allow a group of deportees to be handed over to El Salvador after U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered their flights returned to the United States, the Justice Department said in a court filing Tuesday.
The filing was filed as Boasberg continues probing whether the Trump administration violated his orders to halt mid‑March deportation flights. Boasberg had issued a verbal directive that the government should resort to “turning around a plane” if necessary, and has accused the government of showing a “willful disregard” for his rulings. The administration, however, told the court Tuesday that it “did not violate” Boasberg’s order and that “no further proceedings are warranted or appropriate.”
The government identified which Department of Homeland Security and Justice Department officials were involved in the decision not to turn the flights around. According to the filing, Justice Department official Drew Ensign conveyed Boasberg’s rulings to DHS and Justice leadership. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and former Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove offered advice to DHS’s acting general counsel, who relayed that advice to Noem. Noem concluded that the class of detainees “who had been removed from the United States before the Court’s order could be transferred to the custody of El Salvador,” and the filing says that move “was lawful and was consistent with a reasonable interpretation of the Court’s order.”
The contested flights were part of a Trump administration initiative to send accused Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador, where the Salvadoran government detained them for months. The administration has defended the program as lawful under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 and as a measure to address violent crime, but courts and advocates have challenged it, arguing the deportees did not receive adequate due process.
A lawsuit brought by migrants prompted Boasberg to order a temporary halt to removals under the Alien Enemies Act and to direct that deportation flights already en route be returned. Despite that order, some midair flights continued to El Salvador, and Boasberg said there is probable cause to hold the government in contempt. Appeals court judges later tossed out Boasberg’s finding of probable cause, but another panel allowed Boasberg to continue investigating whether the administration violated his order; he signaled last week he will resume the contempt inquiry.
The American Civil Liberties Union, representing the plaintiffs, has sought to compel testimony from more than half a dozen DHS and Justice officials in open court about the decision not to turn the planes around. One potential witness the ACLU named is former Justice Department attorney Erez Reuveni, who has accused the department of attempting to defy or mislead judges in several instances; the department has denied Reuveni’s allegations. The Justice Department responded Tuesday that “no live testimony is warranted at this time.”
