Judge Boasberg ruled Monday that the Trump administration “must” submit a plan within two weeks to either return a group of Venezuelan men deported to El Salvador to the United States or provide them a hearing to challenge allegations of gang affiliation.
Boasberg found that 137 Venezuelan men deported under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 and held at El Salvador’s CECOT megaprison were denied due process, concluding the government must facilitate their ability to obtain a hearing. “Our law requires no less,” Boasberg wrote.
The men are a subset of more than 200 Venezuelans sent to CECOT in March, though all were released this summer and returned to Venezuela as part of a U.S.-brokered prisoner swap. Boasberg said the administration could comply by allowing the men to return to the United States or by providing hearings that satisfy due process requirements without requiring their physical return.
The judge gave the government until Jan. 5 to file a compliance plan. The Department of Homeland Security pushed back Tuesday, with spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin saying Boasberg was “way over his skis” and vowing to continue defending the administration’s actions in court.
The administration has argued U.S. courts lack jurisdiction because the men were no longer in U.S. custody once transferred to El Salvador. Boasberg rejected that claim, writing that the United States effectively maintained control because the men were detained at Washington’s request and the U.S. paid for their confinement.
