Justice Department lawyers once again faced an angry federal judge on Friday as they sought to defend President Donald Trump’s decision to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 and usher migrants out of the country without a court hearing.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg vowed to determine whether or not the Trump administration knowingly violated his Saturday order to return hundreds of Venezuelan migrants that were, at the time, being flown to an El Salvadoran prison, where they presently remain.
Earlier this week, Trump prompted a rare rebuke from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts when he called for Boasberg to be impeached.
At the hearing, Boasberg slammed the government’s language in some of its recent court filings as “intemperate and disrespectful,” adding that he could not recall ever encountering such a tone from U.S. government lawyers. One such filing accused the judge of “continuing to beat a dead horse” with his requests for more information from the Justice Department, which only responded in part, alleging that the judge’s orders were “immaterial.”
“I will get to the bottom of whether they violated my order, who ordered this and what the consequences will be,” Boasberg said during an approximately 90-minute hearing.
The judge acknowledged that Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act was “incredibly troublesome” and “unprecedented.”
It was “awfully frightening” to think of the broader consequences of Trump’s actions, Boasberg said.
The judge’s comments come as the Trump administration mulls whether to invoke the state secrets privilege in order to thwart the judge’s demands for more information on the migrant flights.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, a former personal attorney for Trump, said in a sworn statement Friday that Cabinet-level officials were discussing the possibility of doing so.
On Thursday, Boasberg ordered the Justice Department to confirm that such discussions were taking place and to make a final decision by March 25. In the same order, Boasberg told the Trump administration its responses to his orders thus far had been “woefully insufficient.”
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The Trump administration has alleged, without providing evidence, that the individuals aboard the flights were members of the Tren de Aragua gang. The White House says the threat the gang poses to national security is akin to that of a nation at war with the U.S., giving it the right to summarily deport gang members.
But individuals aboard the flights who are suing to stop the move say they are being unjustly targeted, with one alleging that the government mistook his soccer-related tattoo for a gang-related tattoo.
The Alien Enemies Act has been used just three times in the nation’s history. Most recently, it was used to justify the brutal detainment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
