Laila Kirkpatrick, Staff Writer
Lawyers advocating for the Trump administration have defended the weekend flights that deported hundreds of Venezuelan immigrants who were alleged to be Venezuelan gang members despite an order from a federal judge to reverse the course of the planes. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg has now given the Department of Justice (DOJ) a deadline of noon Eastern Time to provide a declaration with details on how plane loads of alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang landed in El Salvador.
Just hours after Boasberg issued emergency orders blocking the Trump administration from using wartime powers to deport people immediately. Numerous lawyers from the DOJ complied with the order providing a declaration that no individual was deported after the judge’s written order was removed under those wartime powers.
Judge Boasberg was initially nominated by President George Bush and was then elevated by Presidnet Obama. Boasberg ordered the current administration to answer several questions underseal which information would not be publicly assigned. One of the largest issues surrounding his ruling was a question of whether or not the Trump administration ignored the initial order to court order which was issued on Saturday. The administration contends that the judge lacks the authority to tell the president whether he can determine whether the country is being invaded under the act, or under how to defend it.
Boasberg’s new order for answers came after the administration provided limited information in response to a sharp questioning form the judge at a Monday hearing.
