A federal judge ruled on Thursday that the Trump administration must assist in returning some Venezuelan men it had sent to a prison in El Salvador last year under the Alien Enemies Act. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered that the government either pay for their flights back to the United States or allow them to enter through a designated port.
Once they arrive in the U.S., these individuals will be detained as they face allegations of being associated with the Tren de Aragua gang.
The judge previously ruled that the government had violated the due process rights of 137 Venezuelan men, stating they were entitled to a hearing. However, Boasberg also indicated that there could be a legal process that did not require their physical return.
“Apparently not interested in participating in this process, the Government’s responses essentially told the Court to pound sand,” Boasberg wrote in his new decision.
Boasberg has clashed with the Justice Department since he ordered the March flights to return. President Trump responded by calling for the judge’s impeachment, while Boasberg has sought to hold the administration in contempt.
“Mindful of the flagrancy of the Government’s violations of the deportees’ due-process rights that landed Plaintiffs in this situation, the Court refuses to let them languish in the solution-less mire Defendants propose,” Boasberg wrote.
His order requires the government to provide a list within 15 days of individuals wishing to return to the U.S. Two weeks later, the government must send him an update detailing how and when it will transport them.
“Nothing has changed; in addition to being in our country illegally, these aliens are foreign terrorists designated as alien enemies by the President. They were removed under the proper legal authorities,” Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement, per The Hill.
“This case is no longer about the facts or law, but about Judge Boasberg’s crusade to stop President Trump from doing the will of the American People,” she continued. “He has been shut down by appellate courts again and again on this case.”
In March, Trump first invoked the Alien Enemies Act to expedite the deportation of individuals suspected of being Venezuelan gang members as part of his strict immigration enforcement measures.
The 1798 law allows for the swift removal of migrants during an “invasion” or “predatory incursion” from a foreign nation. This law has only been used three times before, all during declared wars, The Hill noted.
But that said, there is nothing in the statute that limits its invocation to declared wars.
The question of whether Tren de Aragua’s activities allow Trump to invoke the law is currently being considered in the courts. Last month, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in a leading case and is now drafting a decision, which could eventually be appealed to the Supreme Court.
Boasberg is overseeing the case involving 137 Venezuelan men who were initially deported under this law during several deportation flights last March. He is an appointee of former President Obama, The Hill added.
These individuals were sent to a notorious megaprison in El Salvador, known as the Terrorism Confinement Center, and were later released in a prisoner swap with Venezuela.
Importantly, Boasberg’s order does not apply to any migrants who are currently in Venezuela due to the country’s unstable political situation following the U.S. forces’ ousting of President Nicolás Maduro.
“Once again, at this point, we are not talking about a substantial number of people — particularly because the Court, mindful of the previously mentioned foreign affairs concern, does not extend this requirement to deportees remaining in Venezuela,” Boasberg wrote Thursday in his order.