DOJ Discloses Noem Made Final Decision to Defy Court Order Halting March Deportations

The Justice Department disclosed on November 25, 2025, that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem authorized the completion of deportation flights to El Salvador on March 15, 2025, after being informed that U.S. District Judge James Boasberg had ordered the flights returned to the United States. The filing identified Noem as making the final decision to transfer 261 individuals, whom the administration claimed were Venezuelan gang members, to El Salvador's custody despite the judicial directive. This represents the first time the Trump administration publicly named the official responsible for proceeding with the transfers. The disclosure came as Judge Boasberg continues his inquiry into whether the administration violated his orders and should be held in contempt of court. On March 15, Boasberg issued both oral and written orders halting deportations under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a rarely invoked wartime law that the Trump administration applied to remove alleged Tren de Aragua gang members without standard deportation procedures. According to the DOJ filing, after Boasberg's rulings were conveyed to leadership, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and former Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove provided legal advice to DHS's acting general counsel, who then consulted with Noem. The administration maintains its actions were lawful, arguing that a reasonable interpretation of the judge's orders allowed for the transfer of individuals already removed from U.S. territory. The deportees were held for months in El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a maximum-security prison that Noem visited shortly after the March transfers, where she described it as a tool for immigration enforcement. The arrangement involved the U.S. paying El Salvador approximately $6 million to imprison the individuals for at least one year, though El Salvador later told the United Nations it lacked legal authority over them. In July 2025, hundreds of the deportees were transferred to Venezuela as part of a three-way prisoner exchange, despite the administration's earlier claims to courts that they could not be returned because they were under Salvadoran custody. Judge Boasberg previously found probable cause to hold the government in contempt for showing "willful disregard" of his orders, though an appeals court temporarily halted those proceedings. A different appeals panel later allowed Boasberg to continue his inquiry, and he signaled in recent weeks that he intends to resume contempt proceedings. The American Civil Liberties Union, representing the plaintiffs, has requested that multiple DHS and DOJ officials testify in open court, including former DOJ attorney Erez Reuveni, who alleged in a complaint that his superiors suggested telling courts to "f*** you" and ignoring judicial orders. The administration opposes live testimony, maintaining in its Tuesday filing that no further proceedings are warranted.