White House border czar declares ‘we’re not stopping’ as Trump administration’s effort to deport members of Venezuelan gang faces major legal setback
White House ‘border czar’ Tom Homan has vowed the mass deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members won’t stop despite a federal judge’s order to halt the process immediately.
Tom Homan, the White House 'border czar,' has declared the government is committed to its election promise to use a rare wartime act to mass deport hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members despite a federal judge’s order to immediately halt the process.
US President Donald Trump on Sunday invoked a rare act used during wartime to deport hundreds of alleged members of a Venezuelan gang to El Salvador.
Trump actioned the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang at a rapid pace, arresting nearly 300 of the “heinous monsters “ over the weekend and sending several to El Salvador.
A federal judge in Washington, DC blocked the decree - which hasn't been used since the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour - for 14 days just hours after the proclamation, declaring any flights carrying those processed under the law must return to the US while he works to ascertain whether invoking the 1798 act was legal.
“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,” Judge James Boasberg said.
“Make sure it’s complied with immediately.”
The Justice Department quickly appealed the judge’s rulings, describing it as a “massive, unauthorized imposition on the Executive’s authority to remove dangerous aliens who pose threats to the American people.”
Border czar Tom Homan joined a chorus of complaints from republican lawmakers on Monday, rebuking the judge's order.
"Who in their right mind, whether you're a judge or not, wants the TDA, a recognized terrorist organization sent here by the Maduro regime, to create havoc, to unsettle the United States through the use of fentanyl to kill thousands of Americans, violence to American citizens, raping and murdering young women in this country…?" Homan told Fox News on Monday (local time).
“They’re not gonna stop us. We made a promise to the American people, President Trump has made a promise to the American people, we’re gonna make this country safe again,” said a stone-faced Homan.
“We’re not stopping. I don’t care what the judges think, I don’t care what the left thinks, we’re coming,” he added.
Holland asserted that the planes carrying hundreds of migrants were operating over international waters and were beyond the jurisdiction of the United States when the judge's order was issued.
“Once you're outside the border, it is what it is,” he said.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has expressed doubts about the viability of the order, given that it was communicated verbally rather than in writing. However, this distinction is not typically relevant in court orders.
“We are wholly confident that we are going to win this case in court,” Leavitt said at Monday’s White House press briefing.
Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, the longest-serving current member of the US Senate, said Judge Boasberg's order marked a path to a “constitutional crisis”.
“Another day, another judge unilaterally deciding policy for the whole country. This time to benefit foreign gang members If the Supreme Court or Congress doesn’t fix, we’re headed towards a constitutional crisis," he said.
Republican party member Brian Babin echoed a similar sentiment.
“Judge Boasberg is endangering Americans! He blocked the deportation of violent Tren de Aragua gang members—rapists, murderers, and thugs. No judge should have the power to override @POTUS’ national security decisions.”
Critics, including the Human Rights Watch, have raised serious concerns about the legality and ethics of the situation, with the Brennan Center for Justice describing it “at odds with centuries of legislative, presidential, and judicial practice.”
“Invoking it in peacetime to bypass conventional immigration law would be a staggering abuse,” the Brennan Center for Justice wrote.
“Summary detentions and deportations under the law conflict with contemporary understandings of equal protection and due process."
Boasberg has ordered a hearing where he intends to grill the government on the timing of the deportation flights and changing of custody.