Trump administration rushed deportation flights out of US before judge blocked them: Report

After the judge’s ruling, which blocks all such deportation efforts for 14 days, was leaked on Saturday morning, Miller and Noem worked to get the planes up over international waters just before it was issued that night by Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

“We wanted them on the ground first, before a judge could get the case, but this is how it worked out,” a senior White House official said.

By the time the ruling came down, both flights were already near their destinations in El Salvador and Honduras, with Boasberg adding at the time that those planes would need to be directed back to the United States.

“Any plane containing these folks that is going to take off or is in the air needs to be returned to the United States however that is accomplished,” he said. “Make sure it’s complied with immediately.”

Trump administration officials then debated whether to order the planes back and, after advice from lawyers, continued with the deportation efforts.

“There was a discussion about how far the judge’s ruling can go under the circumstances and over international waters and, on advice of counsel, we proceeded with deporting these thugs,” a senior official said.

At least one of the planes made it to El Salvador, with President Nayib Bukele confirming the migrants’ arrival in footage posted on X.

Now, the administration is arguing the judge’s ruling does not apply to the two deportation flights because they were outside of U.S. airspace when it came down.

“They were already outside of US airspace,” a second senior administration official said. “We believe the order is not applicable.”

Officials are also expressing confidence that any legal action against the administration for its defiance of the ruling would head to the Supreme Court and that they would win.

“This is headed to the Supreme Court,” a senior White House official said. “And we’re going to win.”

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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also blasted the judge’s order as having “no lawful basis” and questioned the courts’ power to overrule Trump’s proclamation, specifically regarding the Alien Enemies Act.

“The Administration did not ‘refuse to comply’ with a court order,” Leavitt said in a statement. “The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist TdA aliens had already been removed from U.S. territory. The written order and the Administration’s actions do not conflict. Moreover, as the Supreme Court has repeatedly made clear — federal courts generally have no jurisdiction over the President’s conduct of foreign affairs, his authorities under the Alien Enemies Act, and his core Article II powers to remove foreign alien terrorists from U.S. soil and repel a declared invasion. A single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft carrier full of foreign alien terrorists who were physically expelled from U.S. soil.”