U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi has defended the Trump administration’s handling of recent deportation flights involving alleged gang members sent to El Salvador, asserting that no court orders were violated.
Speaking at a press conference, Bondi said the administration had acted within its legal boundaries when it refused to recall two deportation flights last month, despite a judge’s order halting the removals.
“I don’t think anyone defied an order by a judge,” Bondi told CNN. “That’s pending in court right now. I think our attorneys have argued in court. I anticipate this will go to the Supreme Court and be ruled in our favor.”
Bondi added that testimony in court revealed the planes had already left U.S. airspace at the time the court issued its directive.
“These individuals were illegal aliens from El Salvador — some of the worst of the worst, qualifying under the Alien Enemies Act,” she said. “We should be more concerned about the victims of their crimes here in our states than about these defendants.”
Her remarks follow a tense federal court hearing in which U.S. District Judge James Boasberg questioned whether there was “probable cause” to hold Trump administration officials in contempt for allegedly violating his order halting the use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport suspected Venezuelan gang members.
Earlier in the week, President Donald Trump expressed gratitude to Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele for cooperating with the U.S. on deportations, and criticized former President Joe Biden’s administration for what he described as lax immigration policies that allowed criminals to enter the country.