A federal judge said Thursday that the Trump administration failed to meet a court deadline to disclose details on deportation flights to El Salvador, intensifying President Donald Trump’s ongoing legal conflict with the judiciary.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg stated that the government’s lawyers did not provide the required information regarding the deportation flights—which included individuals slated for immediate removal under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act—and failed to clarify whether they deliberately defied his court order, Fox News reported.
In a scathing order issued Thursday evening, the judge noted that the government “again evaded its obligations” by not submitting the necessary details, even after he permitted them to do so under seal. The filing they eventually submitted was hours late, but he claimed it did not adequately answer his questions, Fox added.
The administration sent the court a six-paragraph declaration from a regional ICE office director in Harlingen, Texas, which informed the judge that Cabinet secretaries are “actively considering whether to invoke the state secrets [act] privileges over the other facts requested by the Court’s order.”
Boasberg declared: “This is woefully insufficient.”
On Saturday, Boasberg issued an emergency restraining order that blocked the Trump administration from using the 1798 law to deport Venezuelan nationals—including alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang—for a period of 14 days. He also ordered any flights already in the air to return to U.S. soil immediately.
However, just hours later, a plane carrying hundreds of U.S. migrants, including Venezuelan nationals targeted under the law, landed in El Salvador.
Boasberg immediately directed the government to submit additional information to the court as part of a “fact-finding hearing” to determine whether the Trump administration knowingly defied his order and to account for the number of individuals deported, Fox noted.
After the government repeatedly failed to comply, citing national security concerns, he instructed them to provide the information under seal by noon Thursday.
Boasberg requested that government lawyers provide detailed information on Saturday’s departures, including how many planes left the U.S. carrying individuals deported “solely on the basis” of that proclamation, the number of passengers on each plane, their landing destinations, and the specific takeoff times and origins.
“To begin, the Government cannot proffer a regional ICE official to attest to Cabinet-level discussions of the state-secrets privilege; indeed, his declaration on that point, not surprisingly, is based solely on his unsubstantiated ‘understand[ing],’” he said.
Boasberg then directed the Trump administration to file a brief by March 25, explaining why its failure to return the individuals on the two earliest planes arriving from El Salvador on March 15 did not constitute a violation of his order, Fox reported.
“By March 21, 2025, at 10:00 a.m., Defendants shall submit a sworn declaration by a person with direct involvement in the Cabinet-level discussions regarding invocation of the state-secrets privilege,” he added.
Boasberg had previously warned the Trump administration of potential consequences if it violated his order.
Nevertheless, at least one plane with deported migrants, allegedly belonging to the violent gang, landed later that evening in El Salvador. “Oopsie, too late,” Salvador President Nayib Bukele said in a post on X.
In the days since, government lawyers have refused to provide court details about the deportation flights or whether the plane—or planes—of migrants knowingly departed U.S. soil after the judge’s order, citing national security protections.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt ripped Boasberg on Wednesday over what the administration feels are politicized demands.
“The judge in this case is essentially trying to say the president doesn’t have the executive authority to deport foreign terrorists from our American soil. That is an egregious abuse of the bench,” she told assembled reporters during a press briefing.
