DOJ Filing Says Noem Redirected Venezuelan Deportees to El Salvador Despite Federal Judge’s Order

WASHINGTON — Newly filed court documents show that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem instructed officials to send hundreds of Venezuelan detainees to El Salvador in March, after a federal judge had ordered the planes transporting them back to the United States.

The information appears in a Justice Department filing submitted late Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. According to the papers, Noem issued the directive following legal guidance from senior Justice Department officials, even though Judge James Boasberg had already delivered an oral order — later formalized in writing — that sought to halt the removals under the Alien Enemies Act (AEA).

Boasberg’s March 15 temporary restraining order instructed that two charter flights carrying the detainees turn around immediately. Nevertheless, the flights continued to San Salvador as planned, landing on March 16. On arrival, Salvadoran authorities transferred the group to the country’s high-security Terrorist Confinement Center (CECOT). The group included 238 individuals whom U.S. officials identify as members of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang and 23 individuals described as members of MS-13, for a total of more than 250 detainees.

The AEA, first enacted in 1798, grants the executive branch broad authority during wartime to remove non-citizens deemed hostile. The Trump administration invoked the statute in early 2025, arguing that Tren de Aragua functions as a “hybrid criminal state” mounting an incursion into the United States.

Tuesday’s filing states that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and former Associate Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove advised Joseph Mazzara, then acting general counsel at DHS, that Boasberg’s oral instruction did not constitute a binding injunction. After relaying that interpretation to Noem, Mazzara informed her that detainees who had already departed U.S. airspace could be placed in Salvadoran custody without contravening the court’s written order.

“The Court’s written order did not purport to require the return of detainees who had already been removed, and the earlier oral directive was not a binding injunction,” government attorneys wrote. The filing maintains that Noem’s actions “did not violate the Court’s order, much less constitute contempt.”

Boasberg, however, indicated last week that he will proceed with a contempt investigation to determine whether senior officials intentionally ignored his instructions. An emergency stay issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit had paused the inquiry for several months. Although the appellate panel on Friday declined to reinstate the judge’s original injunction, it cleared the way for him to collect evidence and make factual findings.

Under Boasberg’s initial restraining order, the judge questioned whether the government had provided adequate due process to the detainees before removal. The Justice Department contends that the AEA authorizes expedited deportations in national-security circumstances and that the Venezuelan nationals posed a credible threat. Boasberg has not yet ruled on the ultimate legality of the removals, focusing instead on whether officials followed court directives in real time.

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Photographs released by Salvadoran authorities on March 16 show detainees disembarking in shackles under heavy military guard. President Nayib Bukele later announced that the prisoners would be housed in CECOT, the same facility that holds thousands of Salvadoran gang members. Human-rights organizations have criticized conditions at CECOT, citing prolonged isolation and limited access to legal counsel. The State Department has previously acknowledged receiving reports of abuse at the site, detailed in its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.

Noem toured the prison on March 26 alongside Salvadoran Minister of Justice and Public Security Hector Villatoro, photographs of which were included in Tuesday’s filing. The visit occurred ten days after the detainees’ arrival and while litigation over the deportations was already under way.

The Justice Department’s latest submission does not resolve the central dispute. Boasberg is expected to set a briefing schedule in the coming weeks, after which he could hold evidentiary hearings to determine whether any officials, including Noem, should be sanctioned for civil contempt. Potential penalties range from fines to orders compelling specific actions, though criminal sanctions would require a separate proceeding.

For now, the Venezuelan detainees remain under Salvadoran control. The filing notes that U.S. officials have not sought their return and that El Salvador has indicated it intends to prosecute the prisoners for gang-related offenses under local law. The Department of Homeland Security has not announced any future flights under the AEA, but the Trump administration has defended the statute as a necessary tool for combating transnational crime.

In the coming weeks, Boasberg’s fact-finding inquiry will examine internal communications at DHS and the Justice Department, including email exchanges and call logs from the hours surrounding the March 15 court session. The judge has said he will also consider testimony from aviation contractors involved in the charter flights.

Crédito da imagem: Pool/Getty Images