The Daily Fuckup

The Trump administration on March 24 told a federal judge that it would not provide more information about deportation flights carrying Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador, saying the material is protected by the state secrets privilege. The move came in the ongoing litigation over the administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to remove people it says are linked to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/31217ce8ef990c9bd6ecb49654b6bf47?utm_source=openai))

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg has been asking for details about the flights, including when they landed and who was on board, as he considers whether the government complied with his earlier order directing officials to turn any planes around. The administration’s filing said disclosing the information would damage diplomatic and national security interests. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/31217ce8ef990c9bd6ecb49654b6bf47?utm_source=openai))

The fight is now less about the broad legal fight over the Alien Enemies Act than about a narrower question: what the government knew, when it knew it, and whether it followed the court’s instructions. The judge has said he wants enough information to determine whether the administration acted within the limits of his order. The government is arguing that the details he wants cannot be shared, even in a sealed setting, because of national security concerns. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/31217ce8ef990c9bd6ecb49654b6bf47?utm_source=openai))

The case has become one of the most closely watched immigration disputes of the spring because it puts a rarely used wartime statute, an emergency deportation effort and a judicial demand for records into the same courtroom. For now, the immediate issue is not whether the administration can keep using the statute, but whether it must answer the court’s questions about the flights already carried out. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/31217ce8ef990c9bd6ecb49654b6bf47?utm_source=openai))