The Trump administration has deported more than 200 Venezuelans to a sprawling prison in El Salvador, even as a federal judge ordered their return to the US.
The White House said it wasn’t defying the court but at the same time argued that it was perfectly within its rights to ignore the judge’s ruling.
“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 US soil,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Sunday (local time).
“The administration did not ‘refuse to comply’ with a court order. The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist (Tren de Aragua) aliens had already been removed from US territory.”
A federal judge in Washington, DC, had earlier blocked President Donald Trump’s application of the Alien Enemies Act, an 18th century law best known for its use in rounding up US residents of Japanese descent and placing them in internment camps without trial during World War II.
Trump had sought to use the act’s seldom-used wartime powers to rapidly deport alleged members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang linked to kidnapping, extortion and contract killings.
In a hearing late on Saturday, US District Judge James Boasberg blocked the use of the law for 14 days, saying the statute referred to “hostile acts” perpetrated by another country that were “commensurate to war”.
Boasberg said that any flights carrying migrants processed under the law should return to the US.
Reuters could not immediately determine when the plane or planes carrying the deported Venezuelans landed in El Salvador. But footage published by the Salvadoran government showed men being hustled off a plane in the dark of night amid a massive security presence.
“Oopsie … Too late,” El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele posted to the social media site X above a headline, “Fed judge orders deportation flights carrying alleged Venezuelan gangbangers to return to the US”.
Bukele followed the comment with a laughing-so-hard-I’m-crying emoji.
His statement was reposted by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who later thanked Bukele for his “assistance and friendship”.
In a court filing on Sunday, the Trump administration said that “some” of the Venezuelans had already been removed from the US prior to the judge’s order. It provided no further detail or comment.
It was not clear how many people that it represented or under what circumstances they had been deported.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged Trump’s use of the act, has asked the administration to ensure that it has not removed any migrants in violation of the order, lead lawyer Lee Gelernt told Reuters.
“If anyone was turned over to a foreign government after the court’s order, then we would hope that the United States government would work with that foreign government to get the individuals back,” Gelernt said.
The US Department of Homeland Security, the State Department and the Salvadoran government did not respond to requests for comment.
The 238 men – alleged members of the Venezuelan gang – were being transferred to the Terrorism Confinement Centre – a mega-prison that can hold up to 40,000 inmates – for a one-year period that could be renewed, Bukele said.
-with AAP
Topics: Immigration,United States