Deported migrants by the US Government walk to the bus upon the flight arrival at Ramon Villeda Morales International Airport on January 31, 2025 in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. (Photo by Jorge Salvador Cabrera/Getty Images)

The Trump administration on Tuesday in court filings defended its deportation of Venezuelans, including gang members, saying that two of three flights took off before a judge ordered them not to.

Why it matters: The Trump administration insists they were within their rights to conduct deportation flights after the president invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1789 via an executive order.

• U.S. District Judge James Boasberg initially ordered the flights return to the U.S., though the administration argued the planes were already in international waters and the ruling did not apply, Axios Marc Caputo previously reported.
• Boasberg’s ruling has generated ire from Trump allies, with GOP Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) vowing to draft articles of impeachment against the federal judge.
• Elon Musk and President Trump have also called for Boasberg to be removed from the bench.

What they’re saying: Robert Cerna, an acting field office director within ICE, said in a court filing that two of three planes carrying migrants departed for El Salvador before 7:25pm ET, when the judge issued the order.

• A third plane departed after that, but its passengers were not removed solely based on Trump’s executive order, Cerna said.
• He did not provide details as to what time the planes departed or prove that they were over international waters at 7:25.

“The Government maintains that there is no justification to order the provision of additional information, and that doing so would be inappropriate, because even accepting Plaintiffs’ account of the facts, there was no violation of the Court’s written order,” a separate filing reads, signed by Attorney General Pam Bondi and others.

• It also argues that the government “should not be required to disclose sensitive information bearing on national security and foreign relations” while the request for a stay of proceedings is still pending in D.C. district court.

By the numbers: As of Tuesday, about 54 alleged Tren de Aragua gang members are in detention and on the detained docket and about 172 are on the non-detained docket, per Cerna.

• About 32 people are in criminal custody with active detainers against them.

The case is one of several that appear to be ensnared in a long, legal fight.

• A White House official told Caputo that the administration wasn’t actively defying the court order, but a second official said the case would reach the Supreme Court, “and we’re going to win.”

Context: Trump’s executive order earlier invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1789 to allow for quicker mass deportations of Venezuelan migrants.

• Doing so led to about 250 Venezuelans, including alleged Tren de Aragua gang members, being placed on the flights on Saturday, prompting the ACLU to sue the government in a class action complaint.
• On Monday, Boasberg laid out questions he wanted answered by the government by noon on Tuesday, including what time the planes took off and landed and where.

What’s next: Another hearing is scheduled for Friday at 12pm ET.

Go deeper: Exclusive: How the White House ignored a judge’s order to turn back deportation flights