Trump defies courts over deportation of more than 200 Venezuelans in El Salvador

WashingtonThe White House wants to see how far the judiciary really has the resources to rein in the executive branch. The Trump administration has insisted that the flight of Deportation to send more than 200 undocumented Venezuelans in El Salvador's prisons this weekend took off before the judge issued the order blocking it. Still, press secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested Monday that the judicial restraint was actually ignored, questioning the authority of the oral order the judge gave before issuing the written one.

"All of the flights subject to the written order issued by this judge had already taken off from U.S. soil before the judge wrote this order," Leavitt said. But when a reporter pointed out that the judge had already issued a verbal order before the flight left the United States, the White House press secretary responded, "Well, there are real questions about whether a verbal order carries the same weight as a judicial order as a written order. And our lawyers are committed to resolving those questions in court."

Washington District Judge James Boasberg, who issued the order blocking the deportations, has called a hearing for Monday to ask why his ruling has apparently been ignored by the White House. The Justice Department has previously argued in oral arguments that "an oral order is not enforceable like a [written] court order." Government lawyer Abhishek Kambli has declined to answer any detailed questions about the deportation flights and has argued that Trump had broad authority to expel immigrants with little or no due process under the Alien Enemies Act. Boasberg has given the US government until noon Tuesday to certify in writing that no one had been deported after the written order went into effect. This is key information in determining whether its authority was ultimately disobeyed.

The clash over whether Trump deported the migrants in defiance of a court order marks a significant and serious escalation in the new administration's defiance of the separation of powers. Before the hearing could begin, the Justice Department attempted to shut it down, and in an even more extreme move, Justice asked the federal appeals court that oversees the judge to remove Boasberg from the case.

On Saturday afternoon, Trump invoked the 1789 Enemies of Aliens Act to expedite deportations of migrants linked to criminal gangs like Venezuela's El Tren de Aragua and El Salvador's MS13. Among other effects, the law virtually denies the people targeted by it a fair trial. Hours later, Boasberg decided to block its implementation and halted all deportation flights under the law, citing the risk of causing "irreparable harm" to the affected migrants.

Despite the injunction, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Sunday morning that more than 250 Venezuelans had been deported to El Salvador under the "enemy of aliens" category for allegedly being linked to the El Tren de Aragua criminal group. The relatives of three Venezuelans deported to Guantanamo Bay in February for being members of the Aragua Tren (The Aragua Train) reported that they had been falsely accused simply for having tattoos. The question remains as to whether the more than 250 people who have been deported to the Central American country have received a fair trial. Salvador is known for having a prison system that violates human rights., with overcrowded prisons where people are crowded inside the cells.

At the press conference, journalists asked Leavitt what criteria are used to prove that the deported people are part of El Tren de Aragua, in addition to basing it on tattoos, and are not innocent people, who, by mistake, have been sent to some of the harshest prisons. The White House spokeswoman responded that they use "information" and the "work of the men and women on the ground who under the previous administration had their hands tied."

According to a publication this Monday by the Venezuelan newspaper The Stimulus One of the Venezuelans deported to El Salvador is a 24-year-old man named Francisco, who entered the US illegally. When they detained him in 2024, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed that the young man had no criminal record. However, according to the family, since he has a tattoo and said he grew up in Maracay, where the gang operates, they linked him to El Tren de Aragua. The family had lost contact with him over the weekend until they saw photos from the deportation flight and recognized him.

Venezuela denounced this Monday that the transfer of more than 200 Venezuelans to El Salvador on Sunday was a "vulgar kidnapping" and said that this operation was carried out without due process or guarantees for their human rights. Venezuela will ask its citizens not to travel to the United States, since "it is not a safe country."