Kristi Noem made final call on deportation flights after judge ordered planes to turn back, DOJ says

The disclosure in a court filing is the first time the Trump administration has said who was responsible for the March decision that drew the ire of a federal judge.

The Justice Department said Tuesday that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was the Trump administration official behind the decision not to comply with a federal judge’s order to halt the deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act.

In a court filing, the Justice Department said administration officials conveyed U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s March 15 oral order to return alleged Venezuelan members of the Tren de Aragua gang to the United States, as well as the subsequent written order the same day that blocked the federal government from removing members subject to the Alien Enemies Act under President Donald Trump’s invocation of the 18th century law.

The filing said Justice Department officials relayed the order and provided legal advice to the acting general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security, who conveyed that advice, as well as his own, to Noem. Noem then decided that detainees under the Alien Enemies Act who were removed from the United States before the court’s order could be transferred to El Salvador.

A DHS spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Justice Department filing Tuesday night.

Judge finds probable cause to hold Trump administration in contempt over deportation flights03:29The filing, which came 255 days after 261 people were loaded onto three planes in the United States bound for El Salvador, reveals for the first time who in the Trump administration was responsible for making the final decision. It comes after Boasberg said he wanted to revive criminal contempt proceedings against administration officials who authorized the deportation flights.