Senior White House aide Stephen Miller on Monday a federal judge had no authority to direct how the administration carried out the deportation of gang members amid a clash via flights carrying exiles to El Salvador.
Miller spoke with White House reporters ahead of the court hearing a federal judge's ruling that had been directed by the government to turn around planes that would transport Venezuelan migrants abroad. Miller and other White House officials argue that Trump was within his authority to use alien enemy laws as he had banished members of gang Tren de Aragua, designated a foreign terrorist organization.
“The judge issued an illegal order without receiving information regarding this terrorist organisation and the diplomacy carried out,” Miller said. “It goes without saying that he is trying to issue movements of aircraft operating outside of the United States.
“It is undoubtedly the most illegal order the judge has issued in our lifetime,” Miller continued. “The district court judges have no authority to direct national security operations in the administrative department. The president runs the absolute pinnacle of his constitutional authority.”
Miller said Trump will continue to eliminate Tren de Aragua members in the coming days using the authorities' “full suite.”
Over the weekend, Trump signed an order calling for wartime power to expel anyone suspected of membership in Venezuelan gangster Tren de Aragua. This process does not allow hearings and vents fears that it could lead to widespread deportation of Venezuelans, regardless of the gang.
An order from US District Judge James Boasberg temporarily blocked deportation, but the Trump administration was accused of failing to comply with the judge's order to swing a plane carrying Venezuelans targeted under the order.
The order did not apply as the White House claims that the planes were already out of our soil. While some officials have questioned why critics would like planes that are allegedly gang members to return to the US, clashes with the judge rekindled fears that the Trump administration might choose to ignore court orders.
