Trump DOJ invokes state secrets in Tren de Aragua deportation case
Attorney General Pam Bondi endorsed the Trump administration’s assertion of state secrets over details of the Tren de Aragua deportation flights on Monday. In a court filing issued Monday night, Bondi referenced claims from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem, stating that specific details of how and when Tren de Aragua gang members were deported on planes last week are covered under state secrets privilege and do not need to be provided to the court.
“The Secretary of State and Secretary of Homeland Security have each submitted a declaration asserting a formal claim of state secrets privilege regarding disclosure of the information sought in the March 18, 2025 Minute Order,” Bondi wrote to the court. “Those declarations reflect the studied and well-supported conclusion of each Secretary that disclosure of the information, even ex parte and in camera, would cause significant harm to the foreign relations and national security interests of the United States.”
The filing was submitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which is hearing arguments in the Trump administration’s emergency appeal of a lower court ruling that temporarily blocked its use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. Congress passed the Alien Enemies Act immigration law in 1798, and it has been used only several times in U.S. history, most recently during World War II.
Last week, Obama-appointed, D.C.-based Judge James Boasberg issued an order to immediately halt any planned deportations of Venezuelan nationals to El Salvador. Despite the order, a plane carrying hundreds of U.S. migrants, including Venezuelan nationals removed under the law, arrived in El Salvador hours later. Boasberg held a fact-finding hearing on Monday night, ordering the Trump administration to submit more information on the flights, including details on how planes departed the U.S., the number of individuals on each plane, where the planes landed, and what time each plane took off from the U.S.
Boasberg imposed a Tuesday noon deadline for the information submission and ordered the parties to appear in court again on Friday. The Trump administration argued that the halt on deportation flights under the Alien Enemies Act was an “unauthorized imposition on the Executive’s authority to remove dangerous aliens who pose threats to the American people.”
In conclusion, Attorney General Pam Bondi endorsed the Trump administration’s assertion of state secrets over details of the Tren de Aragua deportation flights, citing potential harm to foreign relations and national security interests. The court is set to hear more information on the flights and is expected to reconvene on Friday for further proceedings.
