U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi sharply criticized unelected federal judges for obstructing President Donald Trump’s executive orders, arguing that they are exceeding their authority. Last weekend, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg of the District of Columbia blocked the Trump administration from deporting members of Tren de Aragua, a notorious Venezuelan transnational crime ring. During an emergency hearing on Saturday, Boasberg verbally ordered the government to turn around any aircraft carrying deportees.
Despite the hearing, at least two flights took off and landed in El Salvador, ABC News reported. Administration officials maintained that the planes were over international waters at the time, placing them outside Boasberg’s jurisdiction. The judge subsequently issued a written order halting further deportations for at least 14 days, pending judicial review. On Monday, Boasberg—appointed to the federal bench by former President Barack Obama—demanded that the administration answer several questions regarding the two deportation flights that departed:
- What time did the plane take off from U.S. soil and from where?
- What time did it leave U.S. airspace?
- What time did it land on foreign soil?
- When were the terrorists transferred out of U.S. custody?
- How many were on board the flight?
He gave the Trump administration until Thursday to respond, but in an interview with Fox News this week, Bondi indicated that the Justice Department is prepared to essentially tell the judge to pound sand because he has no authority to stop the removal of terrorist designees from the U.S. nor to ask highly classified questions about the deportation flights in open court. On Saturday, Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act to expel the Tren de Aragua terrorists. The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 allows the president to detain or deport enemy invaders.
“Our lawyers are working on this, we will answer appropriately,” Bondi said Wednesday on Fox News. “But what I will tell you is, this judge has no right to ask those questions. You have one unelected federal judge trying to control foreign policy, trying to control the Alien Enemies Act, which they have no business presiding over. And there are 261 reasons why Americans are safer now. That’s because those people are out of this country.”
Bondi: This judge has no right to ask those questions. The judge had no business, no power to do what he did. This judge had no right to do that.. pic.twitter.com/0dqgakyVym
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 19, 2025
The former Florida attorney general then added: “The judge had no business, no power, to do what he did. This has been a pattern with these liberal judges. They’re meddling in foreign affairs. They’re meddling in our government, and the question should be, ‘Why is a judge trying to protect terrorists who invaded our country over our American citizens?’”
The Attorney General stated that the administration would address Boasberg’s questions, appeal his injunction, and continue to expel terrorists from the homeland. “We are going to deport them, and we’re going to continue to deport them,” she vowed. “We will honor what the court says, but we will appeal. And we will continue to fight terrorists within our country.”