Trump invokes state secrecy to hinder investigation into the deportation of Venezuelans in El Salvador.

WashingtonDonald Trump's fight against the judiciary continues. The White House has invoked state secrecy to avoid detailing the time the plane that took off deported more than 200 Venezuelans to El SalvadorThe Republican government invoked this privilege on Monday night, hours before the court deadline, and refused to reveal further information about the flight, hampering Judge James Boasberg's investigation. to determine whether the White House violated its judicial blockade. The ruling in this case has become the main front in Trump's open war against the authority of judges.

On March 15, the US president invoked the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan migrants linked to the Tren de Aragua gang. Boasberg issued an emergency order blocking the application of this act and demanding the halt of any deportation flights carried out under the ordinance. The following day, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that more than 200 people had been deported to El Salvador prisons on charges of allegedly belonging to the criminal gang. Although the White House denies having ignored the judge's order, it has not revealed the time the plane took off to determine whether it was before or after the court ruling.

After the Justice Department also avoided answering the question about takeoff time last week, Boasberg set a Tuesday deadline to turn over this information. The federal judge, the target of a harsh harassment campaign by Trump and his followers, also gave the executive branch the option of invoking the state secrets privilege.

Now, lawyers for the Venezuelan migrants who filed the legal challenge to the deportations will have until March 31 to respond. Boasberg warned of consequences if he concludes the administration violated his order, but did not specify what they would be.

In court documents filed late Monday, the Justice Department stated it would invoke that privilege, arguing that Boasberg's investigation constitutes judicial overreach that violates the executive branch's authority over diplomatic and national security matters. "Disclosure of this information could reasonably be expected to cause significant harm to the foreign relations interests of the United States," Rubio wrote.

The Trump administration continues his campaign to erode the power of judges and challenge their authority to review executive actions under the law. This authority is known as judicial review and is enshrined in Article III of the Constitution, which grants federal judges the power to rule on cases involving the president, as well as other branches of government.

Trump has been stoking tensions with the judiciary for weeks, as the courts have become the first line of defense against the president's attempts to overreach his power. On Tuesday, Trump called on his congressmen—who hold a majority in both chambers of Congress—to initiate impeachment proceedings. of impeachment against Boasberg, as well as other judges who blocked the president's other executive orders. The petition prompted even Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts made an unusual statement rejecting the ideaIn all likelihood, the case of the deportation of Venezuelans and the Alien Enemies Act will end up on the Supreme Court's desk for a final decision.

"The Nazis received better treatment."

Despite questioning the power of the courts, government lawyers also filed a motion with the appeals court seeking to overturn the judicial block on the 18th-century Enemies Alien Act. During opening arguments on Monday, Judge Patricia Millet stated that "the Nazis were treated better" when the Enemies Alien Act was applied to them during World War II than Venezuelans are now.

The 1789 law was created for wartime purposes to quickly remove migrants deemed to be collaborators with enemy countries. Among other things, the ordinance allows for the dismissal of those targeted by it without prosecution. Before Trump, the law had only been used three times: most recently during World War II to detain and deport Japanese, German, and Italian immigrants.