“Unfortunately insufficient”: the federal judge accuses the Department of Justice of the ‘obligations’ of evading’ to comply with the request for deportation flights
The American district judge James Boasberg accused the Department of Justice to evade “his obligations” to fulfill his order for more information about the flights of alleged undocumented migrants who were sent to El Salvador during the weekend, according to a new presentation on Thursday.
Boasberg said in an order on Thursday that after a deadline at noon, the lawyers of the Department of Justice presented a written statement of an interim ICE field officer, who repeated general information about flights and that the secretaries of the cabinet were still weighing whether to invoke the secret privilege of the states.
“This is unfortunately insufficient,” said Boasberg in response.
Boasberg said that he is demanding from the Government to show the cause for March 25 about why his responses so far and the lack of return of undocumented migrants to the United States did not violate their temporary restriction orders.
In addition, he asked the Government to present a affidavit before 10 am on Friday by a person involved in the Trump cabinet discussions about the privilege of the state’s secrets, and to say before March 25 if they plan to invoke the privilege.
On this March 16, 2023, File Photo, Judge James E. Boasberg, main judge of the Federal District Court in DC, represents a portrait at E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, DC
Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post through Getty Images, Archive
Boasberg blocked the Trump administration to deport non -citizens, Venezuelan immigrants who alleges that they are members of the Trena de Aragua gang, without due process. The administration carried out deportation flights under the Alien enemies law, a war authority rarely used, and Boasberg ordered that they revolve around two flights that the administration said they deported the alleged members of migrant gangs to El Salvador.
After the officials could not change the flights, Boasberg demanded that they provide more information about the flights, under stamp, but the lawyers of the Department of Justice refused, citing national security concerns.
The Trump administration has not published the names of the alleged gang members who were deported.
According to a presentation of the Court on Wednesday, the lawyers of the Department of Justice said they were considering invoking the privilege of the State’s secrets, a measure that allows the head of an executive department to be given to produce evidence in a judicial case claiming that the evidence is secret information that would damage national security or interests of foreign relations, in accordance with the dissemination, in accordance with the Constitutional Rights Center. Doing it would deny Boasberg the information he requested.
In his response, Boasberg gave the government an extension of one day, until noon on Thursday, to provide the information that he requested or invoke the doctrine of the State’s secrets and provide an explanation of why they invoke it.
On Thursday, Karen Travers de ABC News asked the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt why the Administration will not deliver the information about deportation flights if they trust that they complied with the order of the judge.
“We are sure that we have fulfilled, and as I said from the podium, all the flights that were subject to the written order of the judge took off before the written order was pushed in the courtroom,” Leavitt said. “And the president is everything within his article, his power of article II and his authority under the Aien Enemies Law to make these decisions.”
In this archive photo of October 20, 2022, the registration of the Department of Justice is seen in the building of the headquarters in Washington, DC
Batir Zawrzel/Nurphoto through Getty Images, Archive
Earlier this week, Trump and some Republicans from the House of Representatives called to dismiss Boasberg, and Trump described the judge “Radical Left”.
The president of the United States Supreme Court, John Roberts, issued a rare statement about the threat of political trial, indicating a great difference of opinion between the judicial and executive branches.
“For more than two centuries, it has been established that the accusation is not an appropriate response to the disagreement of a judicial decision,” Roberts said in the statement. “The normal appeal review process exists for that purpose.”
