AILSA CHANG, HOST:
This evening, a federal judge chastised the Trump administration for not answering basic questions about deportation flights that took place this weekend and that may have violated his court order. On Saturday, the Trump administration invoked a rarely used wartime law from 1798 to rapidly remove a group of migrants, most of them Venezuelans and many of them alleged gang members. Despite an order from a federal judge demanding that the flights not take off or that they turn back, more than 200 migrants were sent to a prison in El Salvador, more than half of them under what's called the Alien Enemies Act. Joining us now with the latest is NPR's Jasmine Garsd. Hi, Jasmine.
JASMINE GARSD, BYLINE: Hi.
CHANG: OK, so what happened tonight when this federal judge, Judge James Boasberg, asked the government to explain these deportation flights?
GARSD: OK. So over the weekend, the first order Judge Boasberg issued was to stop the deportations and turn around any planes. And that order was oral. It was not written. Now, this is important because today the Justice Department lawyer, Abhishek Kambli, argued that the government took into consideration the later written ruling. Now, the judge pushed back and asked if the order was disregarded simply because it was verbal, saying, quote, "that's a heck of a stretch." Secondly, the lawyer for the Justice Department said that by the time the oral ruling came down, some of the planes were already outside U.S. airspace and that the president, as commander-in-chief, has broad authority over foreign relations. Now, the judge seemed pretty skeptical about that as well. Finally, several questions were asked about who was on the planes, how many passengers on each plane and at what time the planes departed, landed, and when were the passengers transferred to El Salvador's infamous prison? But the Justice Department refused repeatedly to answer, citing national security and foreign policy concerns.
CHANG: And then I know that Judge Boasberg said that he expects the government to come back to court by noon tomorrow with answers, right? Like, what exactly is the judge asking for tomorrow?
GARSD: The judge chastised the DOJ lawyer for not being prepared and said by noon tomorrow, he wants to know at what time those planes carrying deportees to El Salvador left the U.S. He also wants to know - if this is, as the lawyer argued, classified information, he needs to know why. Why can't he at least be told in a closed session? Now, the judge ended by saying, I'll be sure to put all this in a written order since my oral orders don't seem to carry any weight.
CHANG: OK. Well, Jas, can we just step back, and can you remind us like, what is the Alien Enemies Act, this law that President Trump invoked?
GARSD: So the Alien Enemies Act gives the President sweeping wartime powers to deport noncitizens without giving them a chance to go in front of a judge and plead their case. It was invoked last during World War II, and it was used to round up Japanese, German and Italian citizens in the U.S. without due process.
CHANG: So what's the administration's rationale for invoking this very old, wartime law right now?
GARSD: Well, the Trump administration recently designated the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization. When they invoked the Alien Enemies Act, they stated that many of these gang members are, quote, "conducting irregular warfare and undertaking hostile actions." But critics say this is the president overstepping his bounds, and it could lead to a constitutional crisis.
CHANG: That is NPR's Jasmine Garsd. Thank you so much, Jasmine.
GARSD: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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