The Trump administration says it will appeal a court order requiring it to allow hundreds of noncitizens who were deported in March to El Salvador to challenge their detentions.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg last week ordered the Trump administration to give the hundreds of men deported to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act the right to challenge their detentions as unlawful.
Lawyers with the Department of Justice filed a notice of appeal Tuesday, signaling plans to challenge a lower court’s decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
MORE: El Salvador deportees are entitled to due process, judge rules
The Trump administration touched off a legal battle in March when it invoked the Alien Enemies Act — an 18th century wartime authority used to remove noncitizens with little-to-no due process — to deport two planeloads of alleged migrant gang members to El Salvador by arguing that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is a “hybrid criminal state” that is invading the United States.
An official with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement acknowledged that “many” of the men deported on March 15 lack criminal records in the United States — but said that “the lack of specific information about each individual actually highlights the risk they pose” and “demonstrates that they are terrorists with regard to whom we lack a complete profile.”
White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson slammed Boasberg’s decision last week, saying in a statement that Boasberg lacks the authority to intervene in the deportations.
“Judge Boasberg has no authority to intervene with immigration or national security — authority that rests squarely with President Trump and the Executive Branch. His current and previous attempts to prevent President Trump from deporting criminal illegal aliens poses a direct threat to the safety of the American people,” Jackson said, referring to other recent rulings by the judge.
“Fortunately for the American people, Judge Boasberg does not have the last word,” Jackson said.
Boasberg, in last week’s ruling, said that the detainees — regardless of their alleged criminal status — deserve the right to challenge the government’s claims against them.
