Justice Dept. may invoke state secrets privilege in Alien Enemies Act deportation case

Attorney General Pam Bondi and top Justice Department officials said the government may invoke states secret privilege to block a federal judge from viewing specific information about two deportation flights of alleged Tren de Aragua gang members, court filings Wednesday show.  

In a filing excoriating D.C. District Chief Judge James Boasberg for demanding detailed information about the flights, the Justice Department said, "Continuing to beat a dead horse solely for the sake of prying from the Government legally immaterial facts and wholly within a sphere of core functions of the Executive Branch is both purposeless and frustrating to the consideration of the actual legal issues at stake in this case." The filing was signed by Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, as well as top Justice Department officials Emil Bove and Chad Mizelle.

The government argued that Boasberg's demands for detailed information about the two flights from the U.S. to El Salvador Saturday "represent grave usurpations of the President's powers under the Alien Enemies Act and his inherent Article II powers."