U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said that a federal judge who blocked the Trump administration from invoking the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to remove illegal immigrants has “no right” to ask questions on flights carrying deported individuals.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg had given the Trump administration until Tuesday to respond to his questions about deportation flights carrying alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang, which was designated by the administration as a foreign terrorist organization last month, over the past weekend following an order that he issued to suspend deportations after the administration invoked the 1798 law. He extended the deadline for another day, giving the government until Thursday to respond.
But Bondi told Fox News on Wednesday that such questions are inappropriate and that the judge has “no right” to ask those questions and “no power” to order the government to return those flights back to the United States, adding that she believes “liberal” judges are issuing orders on matters they have no jurisdiction over.
On Wednesday, with the deadline nearing, Bondi said Boasberg had no “business, no power” to order the administration to return the flights. She said it has been a “pattern” from liberal judges to order things they have no jurisdiction to do.
The attorney general said that the Trump administration will continue to carry out deportation flights of Tren de Aragua members who are illegally inside the United States.
“We are going to deport them, and we’re going to continue to deport them. We will honor what the court says, but we will appeal, and we will continue to fight terrorists within our country,” Bondi said, adding that Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys “are working on this” case and “will answer appropriately” to Boasberg’s questions.
Her remarks on Wednesday are the latest development in a showdown between the federal government and the judge, who temporarily blocked deportations under the Alien Enemies Act. President Donald Trump has called for the judge’s impeachment, while other administration officials have said that the judge has exceeded his authority in preventing the government from dealing with what it described as national security matters and foreign policy.
The judge has questioned whether the Trump administration ignored his court order on Saturday to turn around planes with deportees headed for El Salvador, which has agreed to intern them in a prison. A post issued by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on X indicated that his government received the deportees, saying, “too late,” in reference to the judge’s original order.
In court papers submitted Wednesday, the DOJ said it was considering invoking the “state secrets privilege” to allow the government to withhold some of the information sought by the court.
“The underlying premise of these orders ... is that the Judicial Branch is superior to the Executive Branch, particularly on non-legal matters involving foreign affairs and national security. The Government disagrees,” DOJ lawyers wrote. “The two branches are co-equal, and the Court’s continued intrusions into the prerogatives of the Executive Branch, especially on a non-legal and factually irrelevant matter, should end.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed to reporters during a Monday news briefing that 261 people were deported, including 137 under the Alien Enemies law.
