Trump Admin Invokes ‘State Secrets Privilege’ to Block Release of Deportation Information

By invoking the privilege, the administration can avoid releasing information about its deportations of alleged members of a Venezuelan gang.

Salvadoran police escort alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang, in San Luis Talpa, El Salvador. Secretaria de Prensa de la Presidencia/Handout via Reuters

WASHINGTON—The Trump administration on March 24 invoked the “state secrets privilege,” a move that could lead to the dismissal of the case against the government regarding the deportation of Venezuelan illegal immigrants to El Salvador.

The “state secrets privilege” is a legal doctrine developed by the Supreme Court to protect sensitive national security information from disclosure in civil litigation. Key cases, such as Totten v. United States (1876) and Reynolds v. United States (1953), established its application, allowing the government to withhold information in litigation if its disclosure would pose a national security risk.

By using this privilege, the Trump administration won’t have to provide information about deportees. Hence, the case against the government might be dismissed.

The government’s court filing stated, “The Executive Branch hereby notifies the Court that no further information will be provided in response to the Court’s March 18, 2025, Minute Order based on the state secrets privilege and the concurrently filed declarations of the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security.”

While courts must review claims of privilege, they avoid excessive scrutiny to prevent revealing classified information. Recent cases such as United States v. Zubaydah (2021) and Federal Bureau of Investigation v. Fazaga (2021) have further defined the scope of this privilege.

The government has used the privilege in a variety of cases, including those involving surveillance, government contracts, and national security threats.

The move comes after U.S. District Judge James Boasberg began weighing whether the government violated his order to turn around planes deporting illegal immigrants alleged to be gang members.

Boasberg asked for details about when the planes landed and who was on board. However, the Trump administration has said that giving that information would harm “diplomatic and national security concerns.”

On March 24, a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard arguments on whether to stop Boasberg’s order blocking the Trump administration from deporting alleged members of a Venezuelan gang under the Alien Enemies Act.

U.S. Circuit Judge Patricia Millett seemed skeptical of the administration’s position. U.S. Circuit Judge Justin Walker, meanwhile, asked multiple questions of both sides and seemed sympathetic to the administration’s arguments.

At one point, Millett told Justice Department attorney Drew Ensign that “Nazis got better treatment” under the Alien Enemies Act than the way the administration treated suspected members of Tren de Aragua. The U.S. Department of State designated the Venezuelan gang and several other foreign gangs and cartels as foreign terrorist organizations in February.

The administration transferred hundreds of Venezuelan illegal immigrants to El Salvador—invoking the Alien Enemies Act for the first time since World War II—shortly before Boasberg issued the written order that blocked such deportations.

Sam Dorman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.