The Justice Department said this week that it has invoked the state secrets privilege in its ongoing court battle over the deportation of Venezuelan nationals to El Salvador, a national security tool that allows the government to withhold certain information from the courts for national security purposes.
In the 10-page court filing submitted to U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, Attorney General Pam Bondi and other senior Trump administration officials said they chose to invoke the privilege because disclosure would pose what they described as a “reasonable danger” to national security and foreign affairs.
“The Court has all of the facts it needs to address the compliance issues before it,” the Justice Department officials said, adding: “Further intrusions on the Executive Branch would present dangerous and wholly unwarranted separation-of-powers harms with respect to diplomatic and national security concerns that the Court lacks competence to address.”
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Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks at a news conference regarding immigration enforcement at the Justice Department. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
The news comes as Boasbeg has repeatedly pressed government lawyers for more information about its deportation flights last weekend, which sent around 261 migrants, including Venezuelan nationals and members of the gang Tren de Aragua, from the U.S. to El Salvador.
The flights left U.S. soil around the time Boasberg agreed to temporarily block the Trump administration from using the Alien Enemies Act, or the little-used wartime immigration law passed by Congress in 1798, to immediately deport Venezuelan nationals.
Hours later, however, planes carrying hundreds of migrants, including Venezuelan nationals removed on the basis of the law in question, arrived in El Salvador.
President Donald Trump and U.S. District Judge James Boasberg (Getty)
In the days that followed, Boasberg ordered both parties back to court to testify over the removals, and whether the Trump administration knowingly defied his court order.
The Justice Department had largely refused to comply with his requests for information – which included questions on how many individuals it deported “solely on the basis” of the Alien Enemies Act proclamation, where the planes landed, what time each plane took off from the U.S., and from where – citing national security protections.
Boasberg previously warned the Trump administration of consequences last week if it were to continue to violate his order, noting that their options were to either file information under seal or invoke the state secrets privilege.
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Former President Donald Trump’s attorneys, Todd Blanche, Emil Bove and John Lauro, depart federal court on Sept. 5, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Should the Trump administration invoke the state secrets privilege, Boasberg noted at the time, the court “is obligated to ‘determine whether the circumstances are appropriate for the claim of privilege.’”
This was disputed in the filing by Bondi and other senior Justice Department personnel, however, who said in the filing Monday night, “No more information is needed to resolve any legal issue in this case.”
The legal back and forth comes as the Trump administration has repeatedly stressed that a federal judge, in their view, does not have the ability to rule on national security matters or immigration issues – putting Boasberg, and his ruling, directly in the crosshairs of the Trump administration.
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The Justice Department also appealed the matter to the U.S. Court of Appeals in D.C., which heard the case yesterday. The three-judge panel declined to immediately rule on the matter, though a decision is expected sometime this week.
Attorney General Pam Bondi vowed Sunday to appeal the case to the Supreme Court if necessary.