The federal judge who has wanted to block the Trump administration from using the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport suspected Venezuelan gang members has now threatened “consequences” if the Trump administration does not follow his orders.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg initially called for the return of more than 250 illegal aliens deported to El Salvador last weekend, ordering the planes to be turned around. The Trump administration immediately appealed the ruling; on Tuesday, the administration said its actions were not subject to Boasberg’s order “because the presidential actions they challenge are not subject to judicial review,” adding that their actions were not violative because “the relevant flights left U.S. airspace” before the order and the planes were over international waters when it was issued.
On Monday, Boasberg ordered the administration to provide additional information on the first two flights to El Salvador, such as the time the planes left U.S. airspace and when they landed. He ordered the government to respond by Tuesday at noon ET. He later extended that deadline by 24 hours.
On Wednesday morning, the DOJ responded, contending, “Continuing to beat a dead horse solely for the sake of prying from the Government legally immaterial facts and wholly within a sphere of core functions of the Executive Branch is both purposeless and frustrating to the consideration of the actual legal issues at stake in this case.” The DOJ also argued that complying with Boasberg’s order exposed negotiations with other nations “to serious risk of micromanaged and unnecessary judicial fishing expeditions and potential public disclosure.”
In its appeal of Boasberg’s ruling, the Trump administration noted:
The district court’s hasty order enjoining — on a nationwide basis — the President’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act (“AEA”) against a designated foreign terrorist organization linked to the Venezuelan government represents an extraordinary intrusion upon the president’s constitutional and statutory authority to protect the Nation from alien enemies. … This Court has long held that the president’s AEA authority is not subject to judicial review. The only exception is that individuals who are detained under the AEA may challenge the legality of custody in habeas — yet Plaintiffs here intentionally waived their habeas clams, and there is no such thing as a habeas “class action” that would support universal nationwide relief. Even if a court could review the Proclamation, it expressly makes the two findings the AEA require: (1) Tren de Agua is both linked to the Venezuelan government and operates as a government unto itself in parts of Venezuelan territory, and that (2) it has engaged in an “invasion” or “predatory inclusion” into our country.
Later on Wednesday, Boasberg then gave the government one more day to respond while threatening “consequences,” writing:
To begin, the Court seeks this information, not as a “micromanaged and unnecessary judicial fishing expedition,” but to determine if the Government deliberately flouted its Orders issued on March 15, 2025, and, if so, what the consequences should be …
The Government’s Motion is the first time it has suggested that disclosing the information requested by the Court could amount to the release of state secrets. To date, in fact, the Government has made no claim that the information at issue is even classified…
For example, the Secretary of State has revealed many operational details of the flights, including the number of people involved in the flights, many of their identities, the facility to which they were brought, their manner of treatment, and the time window during which these events occurred. The Court is therefore unsure at this time how compliance with its Minute Order would jeopardize state secrets.
The appeals court has scheduled oral arguments for Monday afternoon.
