Noem confirms she approved deportation flights despite court order
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Sunday confirmed that she instructed the federal government to carry out the deportation and transferring of Venezuelan detainees to El Salvador despite a court order halting the flights.
“The decisions that are made on deportations, where flights go, and when they go are my decision at the Department of Homeland Security,” Noem told NBC’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press.” “And we will continue to do the right thing and ensure that dangerous criminals are removed.”
The Department of Justice (DOJ) last week indicated in court filings that Noem directed officials to continue deportations to a Salvadoran megaprison amid an ongoing review of whether the Trump administration could be held in contempt after defying a judge’s oral order seeking the return of more than 100 Venezuelan detainees to the U.S.
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This spring, President Trump signed an executive order allowing the deportation of Venezuelans under the Alien Enemies Act (AEA), moving to speed up his efforts to carry out the greatest deportation campaign in U.S. history.
The administration has argued it was not obligated to follow the March directive from District Judge James Boasberg.
The latest DOJ filing states that Noem “directed that the AEA detainees who had been removed from the United States before the Court’s order could be transferred to the custody of El Salvador,” adding that the “decision was lawful and was consistent with a reasonable interpretation of the Court’s order.”
The DOJ on Tuesday told The Hill it stood by its decision, which Noem reiterated on Sunday.
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“I’m proud of President Trump, and his leadership, and the decisions that we have made,” she told Welker.
The deported migrants were later released from the Salvadoran prison this summer and transferred to Venezuela in a large-scale prisoner swap.
Boasberg previously found probable cause to start contempt proceedings over the administration’s deportations, an action that was paused for months until an appeals court last week cleared the way for him to charge forward.
The initial case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union challenging Trump’s use of the AEA remains under Boasberg’s review.
The Hill’s Rebecca Beitsch contributed to this report.
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