Department of Justice lawyers refused Tuesday to say how many Venezuelans were deported under the Alien Enemies Act, despite a federal judge’s demand for the information as part of an inquiry into whether President Donald Trump’s administration defied his orders.
A filing by Attorney General Pam Bondi and other department lawyers said “there is no justification to order the provision of additional information, and that doing so would be inappropriate” because the judge’s “oral statements were not independently enforceable.”
The lawyers also said because they have appealed Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s temporary order blocking the flights, they “should not be required to disclose sensitive information bearing on national security and foreign relations until that motion is resolved.”
“The Government stands on those arguments,” Bondi and the others wrote.
Boasberg had asked at a Monday hearing for details about the flights to determine whether the Trump administration defied his orders prohibiting the deportation of Venezuelans under the Alien Enemies Act.
If Boasberg gives another order for the flight information, government lawyers said it should be for a confidential presentation to the judge and would exclude the lawyers for the Venezuelans, “to protect sensitive information bearing on foreign relations.” It’s common in national security cases for a judge to determine what is appropriate for defense lawyers to see.
Later Tuesday, Boasberg ordered government lawyers to provide him a confidential document by noon Wednesday saying what times the two contested flights took off, what time they left U.S. airspace, what time they landed in any foreign countries, how many Venezuelans on the flights were subject to the Alien Enemies Act and when they were transferred out of U.S. custody.
The case has become a legal test for Trump’s goal of mass deportations of migrants in the U.S. without legal authorization. The administration asked the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to halt Boasberg’s block on deportation flights under the Alien Enemies Act. The appeals court set deadlines for written arguments on Tuesday from the Venezuelans and on Wednesday from the government. While awaiting the appeals decision, Boasberg has another hearing scheduled on Friday.
Lee Gelernt, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer representing the Venezuelans, said, “We’re getting very close” to a constitutional crisis if the government defied Boasberg’s orders. Democrats and other critics of Trump have suggested a constitutional crisis is looming as Trump clashes with lawmakers over spending and judges over rulings. However, legal experts say there is no crisis yet because Congress is not challenging the president and he hasn’t defied court orders.
Trump called on social media Tuesday for the impeachment of a judge without naming him, saying the lifetime jurist appointed by former President Barack Obama is “a troublemaker and agitator” for thwarting the fight against illegal immigration.
