President Donald Trump, left, and U.S. District Judge James Boasberg. (Associated Press/Getty Images)
"This," he said, "is woefully insufficient."
Boasberg on Saturday had granted an emergency restraining order blocking the Trump administration from using the 1798 law to deport Venezuelan nationals, including alleged members of the gang Tren de Aragua, for a period of 14 days. He also ordered any flights in the air to return to U.S. soil immediately.
Hours later, however, a plane carrying hundreds of U.S. migrants, including Venezuelan nationals removed under the law in question, arrived in El Salvador.
President Donald Trump, accompanied by Pam Bondi, speaks before Bondi is sworn in as Attorney General in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 5. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
"To begin, the Government cannot proffer a regional ICE official to attest to Cabinet-level discussions of the state-secrets privilege; indeed, his declaration on that point, not surprisingly, is based solely on his unsubstantiated 'understand[ing],'" he said.
Boasberg then ordered the Trump administration to submit a brief by March 25 explaining why it did not violate his order by failing to return the individuals in question on the two earliest planes that arrived from El Salvador to the U.S. on March 15.
"By March 21, 2025, at 10:00 a.m., Defendants shall submit a sworn declaration by a person with direct involvement in the Cabinet-level discussions regarding invocation of the state-secrets privilege," he added.
Boasberg had previously warned the Trump administration of consequences if it were to violate his order.
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Still, at least one plane with deported migrants touched down later that evening in El Salvador. "Oopsie, too late," Salvador President Nayib Bukele said in a post on X.
In the days since, government lawyers have refused to share information in court about the deportation flights, and whether the plane (or planes) of migrants knowingly departed U.S. soil after the judge ordered them not to do so, citing national security protections.
Breanne Deppisch is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the Trump administration, with a focus on the Justice Department, FBI, and other national news.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/woefully-insufficient-us-judge-reams-trump-admin-days-late-deportation-info