Trump Administration Continues To Defy Federal Judge

LOADING ERROR LOADING In a court filing a day after a federal judge demanded more information on over 250 people who were expelled from the United States to a Salvadoran prison under an extreme wartime power, the Trump administration continued to stonewall, insisting the judge had no right to request it. The filing on Tuesday claimed that the judge’s verbal orders were “not independently enforceable as injunctions.” The administration also said it was not required to turn around the planes because “the relevant flights left U.S. airspace.” Boasberg, however, specifically addressed that argument in court Monday, saying his authority did not end “at the airspace’s edge.” The new filing, signed by Attorney General Pam Bondi, also asserts that given an ongoing appeal, the government “should not be required to disclose sensitive information bearing on national security and foreign relations until that motion is resolved, especially given that this information is neither material nor time sensitive.” A short time after the administration’s filing, Boasberg entered a new order demanding the administration answer detailed questions about two of three flights that carried expelled migrants out of the United States. The Trump administration claimed that “there is no justification to order the provision of additional information.” However, the court filing on Tuesday did answer some of the judge’s questions. Trump’s decision “is a nonjusticiable political question,” the administration’s Monday night court filing — also signed by Bondi — claimed, adding: “Article II confers on the President expansive authority over foreign affairs, national security, and immigration.” The court’s orders, the administration said, undermined “delicate international negotiations to remove dangerous alien enemies, where even a short delay in removal can frustrate removal entirely.” Multiple people — including immigration attorneys and family members — have come forward to say migrants who were expelled to El Salvador have no ties to gang activity, according to numerous reports. But he claimed that the administration’s “lack of specific information” about the immigrants “actually highlights the risk they pose.” “While it is true that many of the members removed under the AEA do not have criminal records in the United States, that is because they have only been in the United States for a short period of time,” Cerna wrote.