Trump deportation order to face scrutiny at court hearing

A federal judge on Monday is set to question lawyers for the Department of Justice on whether the Trump administration disobeyed his order demanding the return of alleged gang members back to the United States if they were still airborne as part of a deportation effort.

Chief Judge James Boasberg earlier Monday rejected a request by the DOJ that the hearing in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., be called off.

Boasberg has told the DOJ to be prepared to answer whether the custody of any individuals subject to an expulsion proclamation were turned over to a foreign country after the judge issued an order on Saturday demanding their return.

The judge also wants to know if “any flight with individuals subject to the Proclamation took off after either the Court’s written or oral Orders were issued;  whether any flight with individuals subject to the Proclamation landed after either the Court’s written or oral Orders were issued; whether any flight with individuals subject to the Proclamation was still in the air after either the Court’s written or oral Orders were issued.”

The Trump administration on Sunday said it had deported hundreds of alleged members of a Venezuelan gang to El Salvador under the wartime Alien Enemies Act.

The DOJ in a court filing Sunday said “some gang members subject to removal under the Proclamation had already been removed from United States territory” before Boasberg issued his order.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, in a statement Sunday said, “The written order and the Administration’s actions do not conflict.

“Moreover, as the Supreme Court has repeatedly made clear — federal courts generally have no jurisdiction over the President’s conduct of foreign affairs, his authorities under the Alien Enemies Act, and his core Article II powers to remove foreign alien terrorists from U.S. soil and repel a declared invasion,” Leavitt said.

This is developing news. Check back for updates.