As the Donald Trump administration has been accused of defying a court order that stalled the deportation of the Tren de Aragua members, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a statement clarifying what happened and how it unfolded. Leavitt reiterated that when the judge’s order came, the planes carrying the gang members were already out of the US territory.
“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 US soil and repel a declared invasion,” Leavitt said.
“A single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft carrying foreign alien terrorists who were physically expelled from US soil,” the press secretary said.
Trump’s deportation, judge’s order: What came first
At 2.31 pm Saturday, the flight carrying the Venezuelansgang members departed from Texas to El Salvador. The timing is approximate as the administration did not publicize this deportation beforehand. The time is of a post of an immigration activist who tracks deportation flights as he made a post about two “highly unusual ICE flights”.
The court order came at around 6.51 pm when both flights were off the Yucatan Peninsula. Since they were already outside the US airspace, the officials decided that the court order would not be applicable to them.
Monsters sent into our country: What Donald Trump said
As the US deported the gang members and El Salvador received them to send them to its notorious prison, Trump thanked Salvador president Nayib Bukele. “These are the monsters sent into our Country by Crooked Joe Biden and the Radical Left Democrats. How dare they! Thank you to El Salvador and, in particular, President Bukele, for your understanding of this horrible situation, which was allowed to happen to the United States because of incompetent Democrat leadership. We will not forget!” Trump posted.
‘I don’t care what judges think’: Trump’s border czar
While there is a possibility of legal challenges, Trump’s border czar Tom Homan said he does not care what the judges think. “We are going to make this country safe again … I’m proud to be a part of this administration. We are not stopping. I don’t care what the judges think. I don’t care what the Left thinks. We’re coming,” he said in a Fox News interview.
