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state secrets privilege to avoid answering a judge’s questions concerning the deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador.
Robert Cerna, an acting field director of enforcement and removal operations for ICE, stated in a declaration filed by Blanche, “I understand that Cabinet Secretaries are currently actively considering whether to invoke the state secrets privilege over the other facts requested by the Court’s order. Doing so is a serious matter that requires careful consideration of national security and foreign relations, and it cannot properly be undertaken in just 24 hours.”
Previously, Judge James Boasberg had ordered the Trump administration to provide more detailed information regarding the controversy or assert the state secrets privilege. A hearing on the matter was scheduled for Friday afternoon.
🚨Update: President Trump’s Justice Department has informed Obama-appointed Judge Boasberg that they will not disclose information on deportation flights due to national security! pic.twitter.com/JCmXsPpw9q
— US Homeland Security News (@defense_civil25) March 17, 2025
The state secrets privilege, established through a series of Supreme Court rulings, enables the government to safeguard sensitive national security information from being disclosed in civil litigation. The American Civil Liberties Union had filed a lawsuit in response to Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act and the subsequent deportation flights.
“The Government again evaded its obligations,” Boasberg wrote in a filing on Thursday, noting that the filing from the ICE official contained the same information about the flights. “This is woefully insufficient. To begin, the Government cannot proffer a regional ICE official to attest to Cabinet-level discussions of the state-secrets privilege.”
⚠️BREAKING: DOJ is essentially telling the activist judge who tried to make Trump turn deportation flights around to GO POUND SAND
Judge Boasberg asked how many migrant flights left the U.S. under the Alien Enemies Act, and the DOJ responded:
“Those are operaitonal issues and I… pic.twitter.com/h9BnBDQykW
— Radio Australis (@freedom4UU) March 18, 2025
Last week, Boasberg had instructed the government to either turn around or halt flights carrying Venezuelan migrants removed under the Alien Enemies Act. The DOJ contended that it had complied with Boasberg’s written order, suggesting they did not have to comply with the oral order, according to The Hill. Additionally, the DOJ argued that the matter was irrelevant since the flights had already left U.S. territory by the time Boasberg’s order was docketed.
The White House maintained that Boasberg has no jurisdiction over national security matters. “The President is well within his Article II power and his authority under the Alien Enemies Act to make these decisions,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “And we think it’s egregious that a single district judge is trying to tell the president of the United States who he can and cannot deport from our soil, especially when it comes to designated foreign terrorists.”
