Justice Department says Noem gave final call on Venezuelan deportations

Nov. 26 (UPI) — The federal government pointed to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem as the high-ranking U.S. official who signed-off on the deportation of dozens alleged Venezuelan gang members to imprisonment in El Salvador.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem made the final call to go against a federal court order to transfer more than 100 Venezuelan men to the custody of Salvadoran officials to be imprisoned in their non-native country, according to new court filings by the U.S. Department of Justice.

“After receiving that legal advice, Secretary Noem directed that the AEA detainees who had been removed from the United States before the Court’s order could be transferred to the custody of El Salvador,” the Justice Department wrote.

In March, President Donald Trump signed an order invoking the Alien Enemies Act that allowed the alleged gang members to be removed from the United States.

It sparked the immediate effort by the administration to deport the Venezuelan migrant men to El Salvador’s notorious mega-prison.

It arrived part of a review to trail who defied Judge James Boasberg’s oral order to reverse the plane’s southern flight route.

The White House contends that it was not obligated to follow the judge’s order. The DOJ argued Noem’s decision was “lawful” and “consistent with a reasonable interpretation of the court’s order.”

On Tuesday, DOJ officials maintained in the five-page court document the government’s actions not only did not violate the court’s order but “certainly not with the clarity required for criminal contempt,” adding that “no further proceedings are warranted or appropriate.”

Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union said the Trump administration’s legal argument was “without merit.”

“While the government’s filing identifies for the first time some of those involved in the decision to send these men to a notorious Salvadoran prison without any due process, it ultimately raises more questions than it answers,” stated Lee Gelernt, the ACLU lawyer representing the group of Venezuelan men.

“The government’s claim that Judge Boasberg’s order was ambiguous is wholly without merit,” he told The Hill.