The Trump Administration has continued to send migrants to El Salvador on grounds that the injunction blocking deportations without due process only pertains to the Department of Homeland Security, and not the Department of Defense. Thus, the Trump Administration has now replaced Homeland Security with the Department of Defense in deporting migrants.
According to ABC news:
The Trump administration is acknowledging it deported four noncitizens to El Salvador despite a court order barring the removal of people to countries other than their place of origin without an opportunity to raise concerns about their safety.
In a series of court filings overnight, Justice Department lawyers argued that the court order was not violated because the removal of four alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua was carried out by the Department of Defense -- not the Department of Homeland Security, which is a defendant in the lawsuit.
U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy issued a court order on March 28 requiring that anyone with a final order of removal must have an opportunity to raise concerns about their safety before they are deported to a so-called "third country" that is not on their order of removal or their country of origin.
According to AP News, Attorney of the Justice Department argued “the agency didn’t violate a judge’s order detailing when people may be deported to countries other than their own because it was the Defense Department — not DHS officials — doing the deporting.
Thus, the Trump Department continues to play games with the Courts. This means more delays because new motions will now have to be filed to block Trump’s illegal deportation policies, and the US Supreme Court may have to get involved again in these deportation cases.
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Update: The story has now been picked up by Andrew Weissmann on Youtube. According to the video, the Temporary Restraining Order stated that no one acting in concert with Department of Homeland Security could also deport the plaintiffs. Thus, it looks like the Trump Administration is in contempt of court in this case, too.
The video clarifies that the judge ordered that the plaintiffs had the right to hearing to determine whether their safety and life would be in jeopardy if they were deported to El Salvador.
