BOSTON — A federal courtroom grew tense as a judge turned a spotlight on the U.S. Defense Department’s unexpected role in the sudden deportation of four Venezuelan migrants — a move that may have defied a standing court order.
U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy, visibly skeptical, ordered the government to hand over the names of anyone recently flown out of Guantanamo Bay to El Salvador. The goal: to figure out whether the administration sidestepped his March injunction barring quick deportations without first weighing migrants’ fears of persecution or torture.
The saga began when four Venezuelans, including three alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang, were plucked from the naval base and flown to El Salvador. But this wasn’t a Homeland Security mission, the administration insisted — it was the Department of Defense handling the flight. As if that technicality would hold up under scrutiny.
“What authority would DOD have to effectuate that deportation?” Judge Murphy pressed, as Justice Department lawyer Jonathan Guynn fumbled for an answer, offering only that “it’s a new day, and there have been lots of changes.”
If that sounded like a dodge, Murphy seemed to think so too.
In recent months, other courts have also called out the government for violating deportation-related orders. One judge said the administration improperly expelled hundreds of Venezuelans under an obscure wartime law, while another noted the government failed to rectify the wrongful deportation of a migrant back to El Salvador.
Currently, many of these Venezuelan deportees — some labeled gang members — are being held inside El Salvador’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center, under a $6 million arrangement between the U.S. and President Nayib Bukele’s government.
Trina Realmuto, representing migrants fighting back in Murphy’s court, called the administration’s defense “deeply troubling” and “frivolous,” arguing that using another federal agency to carry out deportations was a blatant end-run around the judge’s injunction.
“Defendants cannot blatantly disregard the court’s order simply by having another government department complete the final step,” Realmuto told the court.
For now, Murphy appears poised to tighten the screws further. He’s considering modifying his injunction to explicitly block removals from Guantanamo altogether. A ruling is expected by Thursday.
In the meantime, the administration has two weeks to deliver the names of any migrants flown out of Guantanamo — a list that could expose just how far officials have gone to dodge the court’s authority.
The showdown over Guantanamo deportations is just getting started. And Judge Murphy clearly isn’t in the mood for bureaucratic games.
