WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that deportation operations are her decision and denied defying a court order to halt deportation flights to El Salvador earlier this year, attacking “radical decisions” from “activist judges.”
Asked on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” whether she made the call to continue the flights, Noem referenced ongoing legal proceedings and said she would “let them continue to play through that process.”
“The decisions that are made on deportations, where flights go and when they go, are my decision at the Department of Homeland Security, and we will continue to do the right thing and ensure that dangerous criminals are removed,” Noem added.
Asked whether she defied the court’s order, Noem said “no” and criticized “activist judges” and “radical decisions.”
In a court filing last week, Justice Department officials said Noem was the Trump administration official who, earlier this year, did not comply with a federal judge’s order to stop the deportation of Venezuelan men whom the administration alleges are members of the Tren de Aragua gang to El Salvador.
Last week’s filing referenced a March order by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg to return the men to the United States and a subsequent order for the Trump administration to stop removing alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang from the U.S. under the Alien Enemies Act.
The filing said that the orders were conveyed to the acting general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security, who then conveyed the order to Noem. Only after that did Noem decide that detainees under the AEA who had already been removed from the U.S. could continue their journey to El Salvador.
The administration has also faced criticism for its handing of the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man who was wrongfully deported to an El Salvador prison but later sent back to the U.S. Abrego’s lawyers have denied the administration’s allegation that he is a gang member.
