Secretary of State Marco Rubio told a federal judge the Trump administration cannot carry out a court-ordered remedy for more than 100 Venezuelans removed under the Alien Enemies Act.
Rubio argued the U.S. government cannot locate the men after they were sent from an El Salvador prison back to Venezuela and warned that renewed hearings could damage sensitive U.S. dealings with Venezuela's new leadership.
Rubio's declaration, filed Monday night, is the administration's sharpest response yet to a December order by U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg of the District of Columbia that required the government to facilitate a meaningful chance for the migrants to challenge their removal and the basis for labeling them gang members.
The case stems from the Trump administration's use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to remove Venezuelans the government accused of ties to Tren de Aragua, a gang the administration has cited in arguing for expedited deportations.
Courts reviewing related claims have focused on whether the government provided basic due process, including notice and an opportunity to contest the designation before removal.
El Salvador became central to the dispute because the migrants were flown out of the United States and imprisoned there, placing them beyond routine U.S. court access and turning the remedy fight into a question of what U.S. officials could realistically facilitate once the men were in a third country's custody.
Rubio told the judge that the dynamic has since shifted again.
He said the men were released from El Salvador and returned to Venezuela as part of a July prisoner exchange, leaving the U.S. government without a reliable way to determine where the class members are now or whether Venezuelan authorities have detained any of them again.
Rubio argued the court should not press for hearings that could force the issue into what he described as delicate diplomacy with Venezuela's leadership after the removal of Nicolas Maduro and the rise of Delcy Rodriguez as the country's acting president.
Civil liberties groups and lawyers for the migrants have framed the litigation as a constitutional test of whether the government can use wartime-style authority to bypass the ordinary immigration process, especially when migrants dispute the gang label.
The Supreme Court, in an earlier order addressing Alien Enemies Act removals, allowed enforcement to continue while underscoring that migrants must receive adequate notice to pursue habeas challenges, a point that has fueled lower-court scrutiny of fast-track removals.
Meanwhile, several Republican members of Congress have called for the impeachment of Boasberg, citing his rulings in the "Arctic Frost" case and Trump-era immigration policies as judicial overreach and political bias. Articles of impeachment were filed by Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, in November 2025, but these efforts face major political obstacles to removal.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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