Kristi Noem made final call on deportation flights after judge ordered planes to turn back, DOJ says

The Justice Department said Tuesday that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was the Trump administration official behind the decision not to comply with a federal judge’s order to halt the deportation of suspected Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador under the Foreign Enemies Act.

In a court filing, the Justice Department said administration officials forwarded U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s March 15 verbal order to return suspected Venezuelan members of the Tren de Aragua gang to the United States, as well as the subsequent written order the same day that blocked the federal government from removing members subject to the Alien Enemies Act under President Donald Trump’s invocation of the 18th-century law. century.

The filing says Justice Department officials relayed the order and provided legal advice to the Department of Homeland Security’s acting general counsel, who relayed that advice, along with his own, to Noem. Noem then ruled that detainees under the Alien Enemy Act who had been deported from the United States before the court order could be transferred to El Salvador.

A DHS spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Justice Department’s filing Tuesday evening.

The filing, which comes 255 days after 261 people were put on three planes in the United States bound for El Salvador, reveals for the first time who within the Trump administration was responsible for making the final decision. This comes as Boasberg has said he wants to restart criminal contempt proceedings against administration officials who authorized the deportation flights.

The disclosure by the Justice Department is an attempt to provide Boasberg with the information he has requested for months to prevent high-ranking officials from being summoned to testify publicly about their actions that day.

Boasberg in March barred the administration from deporting suspected Tren de Aragua members using the Wartime Alien Enemies Act, saying those expelled most likely did not receive due process. The administration still executed flights carrying deportees under the law.

The Justice Department argued that Boasberg’s written injunction stopping the expulsions had no impact on those already removed from the country. In its filing Tuesday, the administration argued its decision was “lawful” and “consistent with a reasonable interpretation of the court order.”

The decision to authorize the flights came amid an early confrontation between the administration and judges who ruled against some of Trump’s policies and tactics.

In April, the Supreme Court rejected Boasberg’s ruling while saying detainees should be given due process. This approach to due process has continued in other courts.

A whistleblower alleged in June that former Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove — who the court said Tuesday was one of the Justice Department officials who provided legal advice to DHS — told his subordinates they should consider ignoring court orders. Bove denied these accusations during Senate confirmation hearings for his nomination to the 3rd U.S. Court of Appeals. “I have never advised a Justice Department attorney to violate a court order,” he said.

The whistleblower is one of the people Boasberg has indicated he intends to hear testimony from as part of any contempt proceedings.

The Trump administration is seeking a final ruling from Boasberg on the matter, and it could then appeal. But Boasberg is working to shed light on what happened on March 15 and why his orders were not followed. An appeals court allowed him to continue his contempt proceedings this month.

The plaintiffs want at least nine Trump administration officials, past or present, to be on the witness stand for a contempt hearing.

The list of potential witnesses includes Bove, a 3rd Circuit appeals judge; whistleblower Erez Reuveni, former acting deputy director of the Justice Department’s Office of Immigration Litigation; and Deputy Deputy Attorney General Drew Ensign, who the Justice Department said Tuesday had transmitted Boasberg’s oral and written orders to DHS.