DOJ: DHS Chief Noem Sent 100 Venezuelan Deportees To El Salvador Prison Despite Judge’s Order

DOJ told a federal judge that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem personally authorized transferring about 100 Venezuelan men to El Salvador’s CECOT prison in March, even after an emergency order to keep them in U.S. custody. DOJ says Noem acted on senior legal advice claiming the order didn’t bind flights already airborne, a stance now fueling revived contempt proceedings by Judge James Boasberg. The episode ties into the administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act and subsequent human-rights outcry over third-country detention; the men were later returned to Venezuela in a prisoner swap.