- The Trump administration asked a federal appeals court to lift a judge’s ruling stopping deportation flights for suspected Venezuelan gang members. The court has not yet given its ruling.
- The administration also invoked the state secrets privilege in relation to those flights.
- The administration said revealing passenger information from those flights would pose “diplomatic and national security concerns.”
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On Monday, March 24, attorneys for the Trump administration urged a federal appeals court to overturn a district judge’s order and permit deportations to proceed under the 18th-century wartime law known as the Alien Enemies Act.
U.S. Circuit Judge Patricia Millett questioned a Justice Department lawyer about the alleged Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang members who were flown to a prison in El Salvador after the act was invoked on Monday.
“Nazis got better treatment” during World War II, Millett said.
During Monday’s hearing, the appeals court did not rule on the administration’s request to lift the order.
Trump administration invokes state secrets privilege
The Trump administration also invoked the state secrets privilege Monday, refusing to give a federal judge any additional information about the deportation of those migrants.
The move comes as U.S. District Judge James Boasberg tries to determine whether the government defied his order to turn around planes carrying migrants earlier this month. The flights landed after Boasberg blocked the deportations of suspected illegal immigrants who were alleged gang members.
Boasberg seeks information on when the planes landed and who was aboard. The Trump administration argues that revealing this information could pose “diplomatic and national security concerns.”
