Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem made the final decision not to turn back a group of deportation flights bound for El Salvador, the Justice Department said in a court filing Tuesday. The filing was submitted as U.S. District Judge James Boasberg continues investigating whether the Trump administration violated his orders to halt mid‑March deportation flights and to return flights already en route.
Boasberg had issued a verbal directive saying the government should resort to “turning around a plane” if necessary, and he 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 filing identifies the officials involved in the decision not to turn the flights around. Justice Department official Drew Ensign relayed Boasberg’s rulings to Department of Homeland Security and Justice leadership. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and former Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove provided advice to DHS’s acting general counsel, who in turn relayed that advice to Noem. According to the filing, 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 that the transfer “was lawful and was consistent with a reasonable interpretation of the Court’s order.”
The contested flights were part of a Trump administration program to transfer 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 response to violent crime. Courts and advocates have challenged those transfers, 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 was probable cause to hold the government in contempt. An appeals court later rejected Boasberg’s finding of probable cause, but another panel allowed him to keep investigating whether the administration violated his order; Boasberg signaled last week that he will resume the contempt inquiry.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the plaintiffs, has sought to compel live testimony from more than half a dozen DHS and Justice officials in open court about the choice 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 trying to defy or mislead judges in several instances; the department has denied his allegations. The Justice Department said Tuesday that “no live testimony is warranted at this time.”