Despite a US judge blocking the removals, the White House has deported hundreds of suspected Venezuelan gang members to a supermax jail in El Salvador.
Attorneys informed US District Judge James E. Boasberg that two aircraft carrying immigrants were already in the air, one bound for Honduras and the other for El Salvador, despite his order on Saturday temporarily halting the Trump administration’s deportations.
The command was not part of Mr. Boasberg’s written order, but he orally instructed the planes to turn back.
On Sunday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated: “A court order was not’refused to comply’ with by the administration.
“The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist TdA (Tren de Aragua gang) aliens had already been removed from US territory.”
The Department of Justice, which has appealed Mr. Boasberg’s ruling, stated in a court filing on Sunday that if his ruling is not overturned, it will not utilize the Trump proclamation he halted for more deportations.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night, President Donald Trump avoided a question about whether his administration had broken a court order.
However, he went on: “I can tell you this. These folks were awful.