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CV NEWS FEED // The Trump administration on Monday defended its decision to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members after a federal judge tried to halt the removals.
The White House’s decision disregarded US District Judge James Boasberg’s ruling, which had barred the deportation of a group of Venezuelans under the Alien Enemies Act.
President Donald Trump’s Border Czar Tom Homan told Fox News Monday that two deportation flights to El Salvador continued as planned because they had already entered international airspace when the ruling came down.
“We are going to make this country safe again,” Homan said, adding, “I don’t care what the judges think. I don’t care what the Left thinks. We’re coming.” He also stated that deportation efforts would continue at a rapid pace, saying, “Another flight. Another flight every day.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also defended the deportation flights, asserting that the judge’s order “had no lawful basis” and was issued too late to impact the already-departed flights.
“The Administration did not ‘refuse to comply’ with a court order. The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist TdA aliens had already been removed from U.S. territory,” Leavitt stated in a post on X. TdA refers to the criminal gang Tren de Aragua, one of several targeted by the administration for removal from the US.
“The written order and the Administration’s actions do not conflict,” Leavitt continued. “Moreover, as the Supreme Court has repeatedly made clear — federal courts generally have no jurisdiction over the President’s conduct of foreign affairs, his authorities under the Alien Enemies Act, and his core Article II powers to remove foreign alien terrorists from U.S. soil and repel a declared invasion.”
“A single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft carrying foreign alien terrorists who were physically expelled from U.S. soil,” Leavitt concluded.
The administration remains steadfast in its deportation strategy, with Homan calling Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act a “game-changer.” Meanwhile, the administration is also encouraging illegal immigrants to “self-deport.”
Legal analysts predict that the conflict between the administration and the federal judge could soon escalate to the Supreme Court, where justices may weigh the extent of a single judge’s authority to place limits on executive power over immigration enforcement.