Trump admin asks Boasberg for more time to detail CECOT plans after Maduro ouster
Lawyers for the Trump administration asked a federal judge for additional time this week to detail its plans to provide due process for nearly 150 Venezuelan migrants that it deported...
By Fox News · Fox News
Lawyers for the Trump administration asked a federal judge for additional time this week to detail its plans to provide due process for nearly 150 Venezuelan migrants that it deported to the Salvadoran CECOT prison in March, citing the removal of Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan leader who was captured by U.S. troops during a surprise raid in Caracas. In the motion for an extension, submitted to U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, lawyers for the Justice Department cited the "substantial changes on the ground in Venezuela" and the "fluid nature of the unfolding situation" in the wake of the U.S. capture of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. They requested an additional seven days to comply with the court's order. Boasberg, in response, told the Justice Department in a minute order that it had not complied with a local court rule requiring defendants in a civil case to first notify opposing counsel before asking the court for a delay – leaving the matter temporarily unresolved. The update comes after months of tension-filled status hearings between lawyers for the Trump administration and lawyers for the 252 Venezuelan migrants who were deported to El Salvador's CECOT prison in March under the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 immigration law, despite an emergency court order that sought to block the administration from immediately using the law to quickly remove certain migrants. The status of the migrants, who were removed again to Venezuela from CECOT in July as part of a prisoner exchange, further complicated the case. The exchange and U.S. involvement appeared to indicate at least some level of constructive custody of the migrants, as the court observed, prompting additional status hearings in the case. It also made it more difficult for lawyers representing the plaintiffs to track down all 252 CECOT migrants, some of whom had fled Venezuela due to persecution in their home country, and who have since remained in hiding. BOASBERG SAYS TRUMP MUST PROVIDE DUE PROCESS TO CE…