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Family members of Venezuelan migrants who suspect their loved ones were sent to El Salvador as part of a rapid US #deportation operation over the weekend are struggling to get more info as a legal battle plays out.

Advocates have launched a WhatsApp helpline for people searching for family members, while #immigration attorneys have tried to locate their clients after they went dark.

#law #Constitution #DueProcess #CivilRights #USpol #Trump #AbuseOfPower #AlienEnemiesAct
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/relatives-missing-venezuelan-migrants-desperate-answers-after-us-deportations-el-2025-03-17/

NEW. The #Trump admin files its notice w/ Judge #Boasberg, saying:

1. Everyone on the third plane had a final order of removal, so was not deported under the #AEA

2. The Proclamation was signed Friday but didn't go into effect until posted on the WH website

3. #ICE alleges there are 258 known #TdA members in the US

4. #Trump #DOJ says they will only give Judge #Boasberg answers on #compliance "through an in camera & ex parte declaration." (that is, they say will file a non-public declaration that he alone can see). They still give zero specific reasons other than handwaving at national security.

#law #Constitution #immigration #AlienEnemiesAct #14thAmendment #5thAmendment #DueProcess#Venezuela #CivilRights #ChecksAndBalances #JudicialBranch #Judiciary #SeparationOfPowers #AbuseOfPower

Here's the government's notice:

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.278436/gov.uscourts.dcd.278436.28.0_1.pdf

And here's the accompanying declaration with the data:

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.278436/gov.uscourts.dcd.278436.28.1.pdf

#law #Constitution #immigration #AlienEnemiesAct #14thAmendment #5thAmendment #DueProcess#Venezuela #CivilRights #ChecksAndBalances #JudicialBranch #Judiciary #SeparationOfPowers #AbuseOfPower #Trump

Essentially the #DOJ told Judge #Boasberg that it does not need to provide the Court with any additional info (despite being ordered to do so) b/c "there was no violation of the Court's *written* order (since the relevant flights left US airspace, & so their occupants were 'removed,' before the order issued)"

DOJ then said the Court's oral pronouncements prior to the written order being docketed "were not independently
enforceable as injunctions"

[this is bullshit]
#law #Judiciary #Trump

#DOJ also argued that b/c it filed for a stay before the appeals court, it "should not be required to disclose sensitive information bearing on national security & foreign relations until that motion is resolved, especially given that this information is neither material nor time-sensitive."

[Not time-sensitive? They were literally flying people out if the country as fast as they could to avoid complying with the court’s order]

The #UnitedStates Govt Affidavit provides an explanation for the third flight leaving after #Boasberg’s orders:

"[A]ll individuals on that third plane had Title 8 final removal orders."

That means this flight complied with the order.

From the Sat night hearing:

#UnitedStates Govt attorney:

"Would this TRO apply to aliens that otherwise have final orders of removal, because from our perspective, that would be an independent basis to effectuate their removal?"
...
Judge #Boasberg: "That's fair. ... Yes, Mr. Ensign, I agree."

There are still serious concerns about the prior two flights WITH *alleged* [w/o #DueProcess there’s no way to verify & family members & attorneys have said the allegations are false in many cases] #AlienEnemiesAct detainees onboard that continued despite the judge's order.

They were not DEPORTED. Deported means sending them back to their country of origin. These people were sent to a maximum security #prison in #ElSalvador, without any #DueProcess or any analysis as to whether they feared harm there.

Flying a person to a third country that they may never have been to, directly into a prison where they are going to be forced to do hard labor, is not a #deportation; it's something else entirely.

Per Asha Rangappa:

Historical note: When President Lincoln *actually suspended* #HabeasCorpus under the Suspension Act of 1863, he was required to provide lists of all people detained who were not POWs to the circuit court. He complied. While prosecuting an *actual war*.

(Ex parte Milligan - https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/71/2%26nbsp)

From Southpaw:

The #UnitedStates government under #Trump by all accounts is shipping these people into indefinite involuntary servitude in #ElSalvador without even the pretense of any #judicial process, much less duly convicting them of a #crime. It’s an enslaving operation.

It is #HumanTrafficking.

In response to the #DOJ's filing today in the #AlienEnemiesAct case, Judge #Boasberg ordered the #Trump admin to send him a sealed explanation of whether they in fact violated his court order.

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69741724/jgg-v-trump/

#law #Constitution #immigration #14thAmendment #5thAmendment #DueProcess #Venezuela #CivilRights #ChecksAndBalances #JudicialBranch #Judiciary #SeparationOfPowers #CoEqualBranchesOfGovernment #ConstitutionalCrisis #AbuseOfPower #Trump

Here is the new minute entry in #JGGvTrump:

This is some messed up dystopian stuff

Photos of the #Venezuelans illegally *deported* by #Trump under the #AlienEnemiesAct to the maximum security prison Terrorist Confinement Centre (#CECOT) in Tecoluca, #ElSalvador

Photos, released by the Presidencia El Salvador.

Photos of the #Venezuelans illegally *deported* by #Trump under the #AlienEnemiesAct to the maximum security prison Terrorist Confinement Centre (#CECOT) in Tecoluca, #ElSalvador

Photos, released by the Presidencia El Salvador.

Photos of the #Venezuelans illegally *deported* by #Trump under the #AlienEnemiesAct to the maximum security prison Terrorist Confinement Centre (#CECOT) in Tecoluca, #ElSalvador

Photos, released by the Presidencia El Salvador.

NEW

#Trump admin chastises judge for making #deportation flight case ‘a picayune dispute’

The #DOJ chastised a federal judge’s demand for info about deportation flights that left the country over the weekend, accusing him of “digressive micromanagement” in a court filing Wed.

Judge #Boasberg ordered the Trump admin to provide him the details under seal by midday Wed as the judge investigates whether ofcls violated his Sat order to turn around airborne planes….

#law
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5202939-justice-department-boasberg-deportation-case/

“What began as a dispute between litigants over the President’s authority to protect the national security & manage the foreign relations of the US pursuant to both a longstanding Congressional authorization & the President’s core constitutional authorities has devolved into a picayune dispute over the micromanagement of immaterial factfinding,” #DOJ wrote.

“The Court has now spent more time trying to ferret out information about the Government’s flight schedules & relations with foreign countries than it did in investigating the facts before certifying the class action in this case. That observation reflects how upside-down this case has become, as digressive micromanagement has outweighed consideration of the case’s legal issues,” the DOJ wrote [missing the point].

Judge #Boasberg just granted the #Trump admin ANOTHER 24hrs to explain themselves. His order expressed serious doubt about the claim of state secrets or classified information. Boasberg points out that everything was already largely disclosed by Trump on socialmedia.

ORDER: The Court ORDERS that: 1) Defendants' 37 Motion is GRANTED IN PART & DENIED IN PART; & 2) Defendants shall have until March 20, 2025 at 12PM

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.278436/gov.uscourts.dcd.278436.38.0_1.pdf

Per Raffi Melkonian:

Judge #Boasberg is building insurance against appellate review. He wants the appeals court to see that the district judge gave #DOJ every opportunity to comply w/ his orders.

It's just very difficult to get a contempt order or something similar to stick, especially against DOJ.

It’s not how it should work, but it’s the world we live in.

Even this level of restraint & patience may not work.

AG #PamBondi incorrectly tells FauxNews that Judge #Boasberg in the Venezuelan #deportations case has "no right" to ask #DOJ when the planes departed & who was on them while determining whether the #Trump admin defied the court order:

"This judge has no right to ask those questions.… The judge had no business, no power to do what he did"

Wrong. So very wrong.

NEW

#Trump #DOJ filed a reply in support of emergency motion for a stay pending appeal —an attempt to block Judge #Boasberg's #TRO

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cadc.41845/gov.uscourts.cadc.41845.01208721711.0.pdf

#DOJ lawyers urged an appeals court Wed to overturn a judge’s block on #Trump’s #deportation of #Venezuelans under the #AlienEnemiesAct.

The filing is the latest volley in an escalating legal battle over Trump's priority of strengthening #immigration enforcement. Trump has called for Chief US District Judge James #Boasberg's #impeachment …[&] #SCOTUS Chief Justice #JohnRoberts rebuked Trump over the impeachment threat.

#law #DueProcess #Judiciary #ConstitutionalCrisis
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/03/19/justice-department-appeal-trump-deportations-alien-enemies-act/82551316007/

DC Circuit Judges Henderson, Millett, & Walker have scheduled oral arguments Monday, March 24, 2025, at 1:30PM on whether to block Judge #Boasberg's #TRO in J.G.G. v. #Trump, the #AlienEnemiesAct #deportation case.

#law #Constitution #immigration #14thAmendment #5thAmendment #DueProcess #Venezuela #CivilRights #ChecksAndBalances #JudicialBranch #Judiciary #SeparationOfPowers #CoEqualBranchesOfGovernment #ConstitutionalCrisis #AbuseOfPower
https://media.cadc.uscourts.gov/orders/docs/2025/03/25-5067LDSN2.pdf

It appears that #Trump’s #DOJ has *missed* (refused to comply with) the deadline set by Judge #Boasberg to provide answers on the #AliensEnemiesAct #deportations.

Holy freaking crap

The #Trump admin says that the #AlienEnemiesAct allows #Immigration Agents to enter the homes of ANY PERSON who they *believe* are subject to the declaration WITHOUT A WARRANT.

#GiftArticle

#law #Constitution #FourthAmendment #14thAmendment #5thAmendment #DueProcess #CivilRights #ChecksAndBalances #JudicialBranch #Judiciary #SeparationOfPowers #CoEqualBranchesOfGovernment #ConstitutionalCrisis #AbuseOfPower
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/us/politics/trump-alien-enemies-immigration-agents.html?unlocked_article_code=1.5U4.39cB.wD5EgfXixxmS&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=p

#Trump lawyers have *determined* [made up from whole cloth] that an 18th-cent wartime #law Trump invoked to deport *suspected* [presumed] members of a Venezuelan gang allows federal agents to enter homes WITHOUT A WARRANT….

The disclosure reflects the Trump admin’s aggressive view of #PresidentialPower, including setting aside a key provision of the #FourthAmendment that requires a #CourtOrder to search someone’s home.

#NEW

Order from Judge #Boasberg in #JGGvTrump

1. By March 21, 2025, at 10:00 AM, Defendants shall submit a sworn declaration by a person with direct involvement in the Cabinet-level discussions regarding invocation of the state-secrets privilege;

2. By March 25, 2025, Defendants shall submit a declaration indicating whether or not the Government is invoking the privilege;

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.278436/gov.uscourts.dcd.278436.47.0_1.pdf

3. By March 25, 2025, Defendants shall file a brief showing cause why they did not violate the Court's Temporary Restraining Orders by failing to return class members removed from the United States on the two earliest planes that departed on March 15, 2025; &

4. Plaintiffs may file any response to such brief by March 31, 2025.

Judge #Boasberg is exasperated.

“On March 18, 2025, the Court ordered Defendants to provide by noon the following day specific information regarding flights carrying individuals subject to the Court’s Temporary Restraining Orders issued 3 days before.…Defendants instead filed a pleading shortly before the deadline seeking to stay the Order in large part on the ground that they were considering whether to invoke the #StateSecrets privilege.…

“Although skeptical of the applicability of such privilege, the Court granted Defendants another 24hrs either to release the information ordered or to invoke the privilege.…

“In an ex parte pleading delivered shortly after today's deadline, the Govt again evaded its obligations.

“[The govt] submitted a 6-paragraph declaration from the Acting Field Office Director for Enforcement & Removal Operations at ICE's Harlingen, TX, Field Office…. After 4 paragraphs of identifying info, he repeated the same general info about the flights: 'On March 15, 2025, 2 flights carrying aliens being removed under the #AEA departed US airspace before the Court's minute order of 7:25PM EDT, & before the Court's oral statements during the hearing.'

“He then stated, 'I understand that Cabinet Secretaries are currently actively considering whether to invoke the #StateSecrets privilege over the other facts requested by the Court's order. Doing so is a serious matter that requires careful consideration of national security & foreign relations, & it cannot properly be undertaken in just 24 hours.'

“This is woefully insufficient.”

[a seriously scripted declaration]

“To begin, the Govt cannot proffer a regional ICE ofcl to attest to Cabinet-level discussions of the #StateSecrets privilege; indeed, his declaration on that point,…is based solely on his unsubstantiated 'understand[ing].' Although its skepticism concerning the suitability of such privilege…remains, the Court at a minimum requires an ofcl w/direct involvement to swear that deliberations of the privilege's invocation are ongoing at the level Cerna attests.“

“[The Court] further expects such deliberations to be concluded by March 25, 2025, which only exceedingly good cause may excuse.

“In addition, to avoid further delay, the Court will require Defendants to show cause on the facts that they have already disclosed as to why the failure to return the class members aboard the 2 earliest planes did not violate the Court's TROs. Further supplementation may be required once particulars are ultimately disclosed.”

#Trump doubling (tripling? quadrupling?…) down on #illiberal #authoritarian #StochasticTerrorism toward the #judiciary even going after conservative #SCOTUS Chief Justice #JohnRoberts (see pic).

The #Trump admin is back in court this afternoon before Judge #Boasberg who is seeking detailed info about the govt’s defiance of his court order to return #Venezuelans deported under the #AlienEnemiesAct.

Boasberg—who isn’t some small time judge as Trump & the DOJ are saying, but rather the chief judge for the US District Court for the DV—on Thurs called the info the govt had provided him after multiple hearings & orders “woefully insufficient” (see earlier in this for entire quote).

#law

This morning, Dpty AG (& fmr #Trump #criminal defense atty who lost the case that resulted in Trump becoming the first convicted #felon to be elected POTUS in history) #ToddBlanche submitted a sworn declaration at confirming that there are ongoing Cabinet-level discussions that Blanche is involved in about whether the admin will invoke the “#StateSecrets privilege” to shield some info from the court.

The privilege would allow the govt to withhold evidence on the grounds that it could compromise national security. #Boasberg has repeatedly expressed skepticism that this privilege applies if for no other reason than everything about the #deportations were broadcast by #Trump & the admin on social media.

After reviewing #ToddBlanche’s declaration, Boasberg scheduled a hearing for 2:30PM today, & said the govt must decide by Tues whether it would be invoking the privilege.

#Boasberg asks #DOJ about his order to return the detainees to the US:

“You understood that?”

DOJ’s atty says that what he told the trump admin – is covered by #AttorneyClientPrivilege.

Judge Boasberg says that at the start of Sat’s hearing, the DOJ told him that it had "no detail" on the removal flights.

"No one told you anything about those flights?" Boasberg asked.

[btw, this was publicly available information via flight tracker]

#law #Constitution #immigration #DueProcess #Judiciary

#Boasberg: "I often tell my clerks before they go out into the world & practice law that the most valuable" attributes they have are "their reputation & their credibility.”
[burn]

Boasberg moves on to the underlying case. He says that nobody contests the President's ability to oversee #ForeignAffairs.

[of course this was not a foreign affair but domestic #immigration policy operation]

#law #Constitution #AlienEnemiesAct #DueProcess #Judiciary #Trump #AbuseOfPower

#Boasberg: “It is also clear that individuals must have a chance to show that they are members of a class that #AEA" affects.

#DOJ finally concedes that the government has legal avenues for deporting people subject to the #AlienEnemiesAct & that the court has allowed the #Trump admin to do so.

[you know, the way it is supposed to be done]

[TYVM]

#law #Constitution #immigration #DueProcess #Judiciary #AbuseOfPower

#Boasberg: "Why was this proclamation essentially signed in the dark? ...And then have people rushed onto planes? TO me, the only reason to do that is to” rush people out of the country before a suit is filed.

#DOJ: "I don't have operational details"
[FFS that’s what this & the last several hearings & orders have been about! argh!!!]

#law #Constitution #immigration #AlienEnemiesAct #DueProcess #Judiciary #Trump #AbuseOfPower

#Boasberg: Within only a couple of hours planes cleared US airspace, all of these people were put on these flights & collected & the flights had taken off.

"ICE had to have had advance notice of this proclamation because it's impossible that this could have happened in a few hours"

#DOJ says that seems like "a reasonable inference”

[I’ll boost a post I made 3 days ago with a graphic of the timeline]
#law #Constitution #immigration #AlienEnemiesAct #DueProcess #Judiciary #Trump #AbuseOfPower

#Boasberg begins questioning #DOJ on #DueProcess infringements:

“What happens if govt removes someone who is not a member of Tren de Aragua?”

DOJ cites a case from 1946.

Boasberg asks what limits the DOJ thinks there are for determining who is subject to the #AlienEnemiesAct proclamation.

DOJ allows for very limited #HabeasCorpus.

#law #Constitution #immigration #AlienEnemiesAct #DueProcess #Judiciary #Trump #AbuseOfPower

#DOJ returns to the idea that individual people can raise challenges under #HabeasCorpus.

[not exactly an option for people who are already in an El Salvadorian terrorist detention center!]

#Boasberg compares this to the old #Guantanamo cases, in which the courts were able to review whether a detainee was a member of Al Qaeda even if "they had never even set foot in the United States"

#law #Constitution #immigration #AlienEnemiesAct #DueProcess #Judiciary #Trump #AbuseOfPower

#Boasberg: let's talk about whether #HabeasCorpus is the sole avenue of review

[hopefully we will soon hear about #judiciary #power & the #Trump admin’s defiance of the courts]

#DOJ keeps trying to argue that the challenge in this case would strip the govt, somehow, of its authority to detain people.

[not if they do it without breaking the law]

Boasberg, incredulous: this is about removal, isnt it? [not detention]

#law #Constitution #immigration #AlienEnemiesAct #DueProcess #Judiciary

#Boasberg asks what standard of review the #DOJ uses to determine if a deportee is subject to the #AlienEnemiesAct

DOJ cites war powers, foreign policy, other areas where, the atty argues, courts have recognized that "where review is available in court, it's done deferentially"

Boasberg: "Are you going to tell each person that's going to be deported" that they have the right to a challenge? WHAT IS THE COURT’S ROLE in ensuring deportees are subject to the AEA before they end up in El Salvador?

#Boasberg reminds the #DOJ that #Congress created a court for exactly this -- the Alien Terrorist Removal Court. It has never been used.

FYI: Boasberg was Chief Judge of The Alien Terrorist Removal Court 2020–2025 →

https://www.fjc.gov/history/courts/alien-terrorist-removal-court-judges

Boasberg asks about #DueProcess rights to aliens within the #US

DOJ argues their rights are "quite limited"

#law #Constitution #immigration #AlienEnemiesAct #Judiciary #Trump #AbuseOfPower

#DOJ argues that, hypothetically, people subject to #AlienEnemiesAc could contest that via a habeas claim. But says that the current suit (a class action) shouldn't be allowed (not brought by individual)

#Boasberg asks about #torture claims: Why can't the plaintiffs bring that related to the #AEA removals?

DOJ says that such a claim needs to be brought as part of a #HabeasCorpus petition.

[again, not easy to do from #CECOT)

#law #Constitution #immigration #Judiciary #Trump #AbuseOfPower

Plaintiffs turn

#ACLU says they're not seeking to stop the govt from deporting people in normal course, under the #Immigration & Nationality Act, & argue that challenging the proclamation wouldn't work via individualized #HabeasCorpus cases.

#Boasberg asks what the plaintiffs think they have to do to show that they're not members of TdA.

ACLU says that during the WWI invocation, there weren't removals. And even during the WWII removals, the govt "set up a hearing board" to review cases.

#ACLU: "It can't just be you're put on a plane in 2hrs"

ACLU says that unless there's a review process, "anyone could be taken off the street." He adds that the plaintiffs see another question: whether the proclamation itself is reviewable by the courts; he says it is.

ACLU: "This is a very dangerous road we're going down where the #AlienEnemiesAct can be invoked against a gang" [not a foreign nation or government]

#law #Constitution #immigration #DueProcess #Judiciary #Trump #AbuseOfPower

#Boasberg interjects to say that a big question here is about TdA membership, determining who is covered by the #AEA.

Boasberg to #ACLU: I agree that the policy implications of this are incredibly troubling, problematic, concerning....it's an unprecedented & expanded use of the Act

#law #Constitution #immigration #AlienEnemiesAct #DueProcess #Judiciary #Trump #AbuseOfPower

#Boasberg says he is also concerned that those targeted were not working for foreign governments, but adds that the question of his ability to review the proclamation itself is unclear.

"There's still a lot of language in #SCOTUS cases that gives me pause"

#law #Constitution #immigration #AlienEnemiesAct #DueProcess #Judiciary #Trump #AbuseOfPower

#DOJ is back up briefly for a hypothetical presented by Boasberg about whether the #AlienEnemiesAct could apply to Chinese fishermen under their interpretation of the #AEA. They agreed it could.

Court is adjourned for the day.

#law #Constitution #immigration #DueProcess #Judiciary #Trump #AbuseOfPower

@Nonilex Arrgg! Adjourned? Seemed like they were really getting into the nitty-gritty details finally. (Plus I can't get enough of judges backing the DOJ against a wall)

@jandi