DOJ declines to reveal requested info to judge in deportation case, cites state secrets

In a court filing on Monday, top Department of Justice officials told US District Judge James Boasberg that it would be invoking the state secrets privilege and no further information related to the deportation flights that are currently at the center of a legal battle. 

"The Executive Branch hereby notifies the Court that no further information will be provided in response to the Court’s March 18, 2025 Minute Order based on the state secrets privilege and the concurrently filed declarations of the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security," the 10-page filing stated.

The filing later added, "The Court has all of the facts it needs to address the compliance issues before it. Further intrusions on the Executive Branch would present dangerous and wholly unwarranted separation-of-powers harms with respect to diplomatic and national security concerns that the Court lacks competence to address."

The state secrets privilege "forecloses further demands for details that have no place in this matter," and the DOJ said that on Tuesday it would "address the Court’s order to show cause" by "demonstrating that there is no basis for the suggestion of noncompliance with any binding order."

The DOJ said that the invocation of "absolute" state secrets "prevents the Court from colliding with the Executive." The department also said that the information sought by the court "would pose reasonable danger to national security and foreign affairs."

Boasberg has been seeking information to determine whether the Trump administration violated his temporary restraining order over the use of the Alien Enemies Act to quickly deport members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA). He sought the exact timing of two flights that took off from the US on the evening of March 15, as well as when they left US airspace and other information.

"No more information is needed to resolve any legal issue in this case. Whether the planes carried one TdA terrorist or a thousand or whether the planes made one stop or ten simply has no bearing on any relevant legal issue," the filing stated.

In the wake of the filing, Boasberg has given attorneys representing the plaintiffs until March 31 to respond to the Trump administration’s invocation of the state secrets privilege, per Newsweek.