The US government’s response to a judicial request for details on deportation flights from hundreds Venezuelan was “unfortunately insufficient,” said one judge on Thursday (20).
James Bomberg, Washington -based district judge, evaluates Donald Trump’s government authorities raped an order that he issued on March 15 by temporarily blocking deportations with a measure used in times of war.
In a new order on Thursday, the judge ordered the Justice Department officials to explain until next Tuesday (25) why the government would not have violated his order if he did not bring immigrants back to the country.
The judge stated that the government “fled its responsibilities” with the answers presented on Thursday about a Venezuelan gang.
The government’s response came in the form of a statement by an employee of the Department of Immigration and Customs, or Ice, in the acronym in English, according to the magistrate.
The statement repeated information that the government had already provided on flights and did not directly declare whether it would invoke a legal doctrine involving state secrets to avoid sharing the data, the judge added.
Instead, according to Bomberg, the ICE official said unspecified office secretaries were still deciding whether they would invoke the privilege of state secrets.
In addition, he pointed out that the judge’s 24 hours for the government to answer the questions were not enough.
“This is unfortunately insufficient,” wrote the judge.
Previously, he expressed skepticism that the doctrine of state secrets – which protects confidential national security information to be disclosed in civil disputes – was applicable as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has published details of deportation flights on social networks.
Possible constitutional crisis in the USA
Bomberg’s decision, which raised concerns between Trump critics and some legal experts about a constitutional crisis if the government challenges court decisions.
According to the US Constitution, the executive and the judiciary are equivalent branches of the government, as are Congress, in a system designed to balance between the three.
Trump said he would not challenge any court order.
