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How Trump admin. yanked the rug out from under activist judge to deport gang thugs

March 17, 2025 | | Print Article

White House strategy “orchestrated” to make straight the path around judicial obstruction, succeeding in getting more than 250 “monsters” out of the country.

The predictability of leftist responses allowed for careful planning in recent days after President Donald Trump’s administration struck a deal with El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele to offload illegal alien gang members. As a result, when a judge’s order attempted to block the deportation of alleged Tren de Aragua and MS-13 “thugs,” it was Bukele himself who responded, “Oopsie…Too late.”

Axios spoke with two senior White House officials after U.S. District Judge James Boasberg issued a 14-day restraining order Saturday following an emergency hearing where he wrote, “Any plane containing these folks that is going to take off or is in the air needs to be returned to the United States however that is accomplished.”

As it happened, Trump’s signing of an executive order invoking the 1798 Alien Enemies Act late Friday night provided ample time for two flights carrying scores of aliens linked to the Venezuelan prison gang TdA as well as 23 aliens tied to MS-13 to depart Texas en route to El Salvador, putting them over international water before the ACLU could file a class action lawsuit on their behalf.

“These are the monsters sent into our Country by Crooked Joe Biden and the Radical Left Democrats. How dare they!” stated Trump as he shared a video of the prisoners being processed from the flights into El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT). “Thank you to El Salvador and, in particular, President Bukele, for your understanding of this horrible situation, which was allowed to happen to the United States because of incompetent Democrat leadership. We will not forget!”

“We wanted them on the ground first, before a judge could get the case, but this is how it worked out,” one official had told Axios as White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller was credited for having “orchestrated” the White House’s plan with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem after a deal had been brokered by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. “Very important that people understand we are not actively defying court orders.”

“There was a discussion about how far the judge’s ruling can go under the circumstances and over international waters and, on advice of counsel, we proceeded with deporting these thugs,” added one official. “They were already outside of US airspace. We believe the order is not applicable.”

Of course, a legal fight is still expected as one of the senior officials told the outlet, “This is headed to the Supreme Court. And we’re going to win.”

“It’s the showdown that was always going to happen between the two branches of government,” the source added. “And it seemed that this was pretty clean. You have Venezuelan gang members…These are bad guys, as the president would say.”

A statement from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reinforced the actions taken by the administration as she wrote, “The Administration did not ‘refuse to comply’ with a court order. The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist TdA aliens had already been removed from U.S. territory.”

“The written order and the Administration’s actions do not conflict. Moreover, as the Supreme Court has repeatedly made clear — federal courts generally have no jurisdiction over the President’s conduct of foreign affairs, his authorities under the Alien Enemies Act, and his core Article II powers to remove foreign alien terrorists from U.S. soil and repel a declared invasion,” she continued. “A single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft carrier full of foreign alien terrorists who were physically expelled from U.S. soil.”

Aligning with the decision, other officials sounded off including Attorney General Pam Bondi and Rubio.

The top cop stated, “Tonight, a DC trial judge supported Tren de Aragua terrorists over the safety of Americans. TdA is represented by the ACLU. This order disregards well-established authority regarding President Trump’s power, and it puts the public and law enforcement at risk. The Department of Justice is undeterred in its efforts to work with the White House, the Department of Homeland Security, and all of our partners to stop this invasion and Make America Safe Again.”

On X, the secretary of state posted, “We have sent 2 dangerous top MS-13 leaders plus 21 of its most wanted back to face justice in El Salvador. Also, as promised by @POTUS, we sent over 250 alien enemy members of Tren de Aragua which El Salvador has agreed to hold in their very good jails at a fair price that will also save our taxpayer dollars. President @nayibbukele is not only the strongest security leader in our region, he’s also a great friend of the U.S. Thank you!”

Meanwhile, as Miller shared a screenshot of the Alien Enemies Act used to deport noncitizens without a hearing, last used during WWII as part of the internment camps, he was lauded by social media users for his “power move.” Bukele trolled the judge by sharing a headline from the New York Post with the caption, “Oopsie…Too late.”

Kevin Haggerty
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