The Justice Department confirmed Tuesday that it was Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem who authorized the deportation of 100 Venezuelan men to a notorious El Salvador prison in March, despite a federal judge’s order to keep them in U.S. custody, according to a new Politico report.
The disclosure came tucked into a response to U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s demands that the Trump administration identify the officials responsible for the unprecedented deportation operation. Boasberg is now resuming his bid to hold officials in contempt after an appeals court temporarily halted proceedings, according to the outlet.
“Noem’s call ensured that the deportees — rounded up and expelled with virtual no due process after President Donald Trump invoked war powers to designate them as members of a transnational gang — would remain imprisoned in El Salvador under harsh conditions for months, until the U.S. helped broker a prisoner swap that resulted in all of the men being returned to Venezuela,” Politico reported Tuesday.
Lawyers for the men, backed by Boasberg, had scrambled to halt the deportations, but Noem’s decision sealed their fate.
Justice Department officials said Noem acted based on legal guidance from top DOJ officials, including Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and then-Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, as well as DHS lawyers. That advice argued that Boasberg’s oral and subsequent written orders were ineffective once flights had left U.S. airspace.
“After receiving that legal advice, Secretary Noem directed that the AEA detainees who had been removed from the United States before the Court’s order could be transferred to the custody of El Salvador,” Justice Department attorney Tiberius Davis wrote in the new court filing obtained by Politico, referencing Alien Enemies Act detainees. “That decision was lawful and was consistent with a reasonable interpretation of the Court’s order.”
The judge made clear Tuesday that he intends to uncover the full chain of decisions that led to the controversial mass deportations.
“I certainly intend to find out what happened that day,” Boasberg said, “and the government can assist me to whatever degree it wishes.”
NEW: DOJ said tonight that it was DHS Secretary Kristi Noem who made the call to proceed with the deportation of more than 100 Venezuelan men to El Salvador, despite a judge’s order seeking to block the transfer.
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— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) November 26, 2025
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