A federal judge in Washington pressed the Trump administration at a hearing this afternoon to explain why the U.S. deported to El Salvador more than 200 migrants with little or no due process.
Over the weekend, the same judge had issued an order barring the expulsions, but the Trump administration went through with them anyway. At today’s hearing, the judge said he was trying to establish whether the government had defied his order. He made no ruling, but he told the Trump administration to return to his court on Friday to argue over the merits.
A Justice Department lawyer insisted at the hearing that the Trump administration did not violate the order. He also repeatedly refused to answer the judge’s questions, citing “national security concerns.”
The administration had previously argued that the planes carrying the deportees, including suspected Venezuelan gang members, had already left U.S. soil by the time the judge ordered them to turn around on Saturday. The judge appeared skeptical of that reasoning.
The White House also argued that the judge did not have the authority to stop the deportations, saying that the president had broad powers to quickly expel immigrants under an 18th-century law meant for wartime.
The legal battle was the latest, and perhaps most serious, flashpoint yet between the administration and the federal courts, which have sought to curb many of the president’s executive actions. President Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, indicated today that the president planned to continue such deportations despite the court’s order — an action that could thrust the country into a constitutional crisis.
“We’re not stopping,” Homan said. “I don’t care what the judges think.”
In a separate case, a professor at Brown University was deported, even though she had a valid visa and a court order temporarily blocking her expulsion. The reason, according to the Department of Homeland Security, was that she had attended a Hezbollah leader’s funeral in February.
In other politics news:
In a call to Putin, Trump plans to discuss Ukraine’s assets
Trump is scheduled to speak tomorrow with Vladimir Putin, according to both the White House and the Kremlin. It will be their first call since the Russian leader said he would agree to a cease-fire only after Ukraine made significant concessions.
Wildfire danger looms over the southern Plains
Forecasters declared an extremely critical fire risk today in parts of Texas and New Mexico, warning that destructive blazes could spread uncontrollably. The area is bracing for high winds across already parched landscapes.
The risk follows a major cross-country storm that tore through the South and the Midwest over the weekend, contributing to at least 40 deaths and reducing some areas to rubble. Here’s what it looked like.
Harvard will be free for more students
Harvard announced today that it plans to offer free tuition for students whose families make $200,000 or less per year. Previously the university — where the annual cost to attend is about $83,000 — had waived tuition for families with incomes under $85,000.
The change will make Harvard the latest in a series of elite schools that have expanded financial aid after the Supreme Court banned the use of racial preferences in college admissions. Here’s how these programs work.
More top news
Patrick Schwarzenegger knows how to look rich
On the set of the third season of HBO’s “The White Lotus,” the director Mike White had a repeated note for the actor Patrick Schwarzenegger: “Patrick, be richer.”
That might sound like a funny thing to tell the eldest son of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver. But he appears to have taken it to heart: Schwarzenegger channeled his real-life experience with privilege into his character, Saxon, a cocky and vulgar finance bro.
Orville Peck is removing his mask for Broadway
Since his debut album in 2019, the country music star Orville Peck has always performed with a mask over his face. It’s become his signature look, and he has said it makes him feel safe enough to open himself up artistically.
But later this month, Peck’s mask will be coming off when he takes over the role of Emcee in the splashy Broadway revival of “Cabaret.” He said he expected to feel ”a little shook” the first time.
The wild shoes that ask ‘why not?’
The designer Shintaro Yamamoto is the Dr. Frankenstein of footwear.
He is behind the most form-shattering, smirk-inducing dress shoes in recent memory. At a fashion show in Paris in January, models walked out wearing his latest creation for the Japanese label Doublet: dress shoes with metallic teeth. Instead of toe room, the shoes each had wide-open mouths with chompers and a polished red tongue. Yamamoto called them “monster shoes.”
Have an unconventional evening.
Thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow. — Matthew
Philip Pacheco was our photo editor today.
We welcome your feedback. Write to us at evening@nytimes.com.
