'Woefully insufficient': Trump DOJ gets 'blistering' slap on wrist from deportation judge
The judge who drew MAGA's ire after ordering the Trump administration to turn around a plane carrying hundreds of migrants as part of the president's mass deportation plan gave the administration another slap on the wrist Thursday afternoon.
Trump, over the weekend, invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport the migrants. The judge then issued a temporary restraining order, blocking the deportations for at least two weeks, ruling that the act did not support Trump's claim that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua's presence constituted an act of war.
Two planes carrying deportees departed from Texas and landed in Honduras before proceeding to El Salvador. A third flight left after Boasberg's order for them to turn around became public.
Scott MacFarlane, justice correspondent for CBS News, shared a thread on X recounting the latest in the contentious court case.
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"The standoff escalates," he wrote, adding that Judge James Boasberg said the Justice Department was both late and evasive with its filing on Thursday. The DOJ was answering the judge's questions about the administration's decision to ignore his order last weekend to turn around a deportation flight of migrants that authorities have said were Venezuelan gang members.
The judge set new deadlines and scheduled another hearing for Friday afternoon, according to MacFarlane.
The judge's order indicated the DOJ had an acting field officer for Immigration and Customs Enforcement argue, "I understand that Cabinet Secretaries are currently actively considering whether to invoke the state secrets privilege over the other facts requested by the Court’s order. Doing so is a serious matter that requires careful consideration of national security and foreign relations, and it cannot properly be undertaken in just 24 hours.”
But the judge wasn't satisfied with the Trump administration — and gave a "pretty blunt" response, MacFarlane said.
"This is woefully insufficient," said Boasberg, who noted that the DOJ missed his noon deadline even though the judge extended the deadline from Wednesday.
Boasberg then gave a blistering response to the DOJ's submission, MacFarlane said.
"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 'understanding.'"