1 00:00:01,200 --> 00:00:03,133 AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "News Hour." 2 00:00:03,133 --> 00:00:06,000 In a D.C. courtroom today: A federal judge questioned the legality of the 3 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:10,066 Trump administration's authority to deport hundreds of migrants without 4 00:00:10,066 --> 00:00:13,300 due process and refusal to answer his questions. 5 00:00:13,300 --> 00:00:16,000 White House correspondent Laura Barron-Lopez has been covering 6 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:19,066 the near daily developments in this case. She joins me now. 7 00:00:19,066 --> 00:00:24,066 So, Laura, this hearing today was about whether the president's use of this wartime alien 8 00:00:24,066 --> 00:00:28,500 enemies power is legal. What did the judge in this case, Judge Boasberg, have to say? 9 00:00:28,500 --> 00:00:31,333 LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Judge Boasberg seemed skeptical, Amna. 10 00:00:31,333 --> 00:00:36,233 So he appeared to be questioning the use of this wartime order, 11 00:00:36,233 --> 00:00:40,033 saying that he believed that it had big policy ramifications that 12 00:00:40,033 --> 00:00:45,000 were -- quote -- "extraordinarily troublesome," potentially problematic and concerning. 13 00:00:47,066 --> 00:00:50,033 He also said that he believed that the use of this Alien Enemies Act was a long way 14 00:00:51,966 --> 00:00:55,866 from the heartland of the law's intention. And he appeared as though he was heading 15 00:00:57,866 --> 00:01:01,133 towards extending his temporary block on deportations under the Alien Enemies Act. 16 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:06,933 That doesn't mean that the president can't deport migrants under other immigration laws. 17 00:01:08,766 --> 00:01:10,600 AMNA NAWAZ: Now, the hearing was not about whether the Trump administration 18 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:13,900 had violated his previous order to turn around deportation flights, 19 00:01:13,900 --> 00:01:17,000 but that issue did come up quite a bit. How did that play out? 20 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:19,200 LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: It did come up, especially right at the beginning. 21 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:23,866 Judge Boasberg said that he had a lot of questions for the government. He 22 00:01:23,866 --> 00:01:28,133 asked the Justice Department lawyer if he had told the Trump administration, 23 00:01:28,133 --> 00:01:33,133 if he had told the top of the DOJ, as well as the president and others, he said, did you make 24 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:39,000 clear that my order said that planes needed to be turned around in whatever fashion was possible? 25 00:01:41,300 --> 00:01:45,633 And the Justice Department lawyer said that he understood that Judge Boasberg's order, verbal 26 00:01:48,100 --> 00:01:52,133 order, he understood it to be binding, but didn't seem to have any justification or explanation for 27 00:01:55,266 --> 00:02:00,266 why in public the administration has said that they don't consider the verbal -- that they don't 28 00:02:02,633 --> 00:02:06,400 consider the verbal order binding, because that's kind of contradicting with the public statements. 29 00:02:08,500 --> 00:02:11,800 And he also, Judge Boasberg questioned, if they were so confident in their use of the 30 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:16,533 Alien Enemies Act, why did it appear as though the president signed this executive order in the dead 31 00:02:16,533 --> 00:02:21,533 of night and then appeared to be rushing migrants on planes over to El Salvador? 32 00:02:23,666 --> 00:02:25,933 AMNA NAWAZ: So the president's been using this act to deport largely Venezuelan nationals 33 00:02:25,933 --> 00:02:30,733 to this mega-prison in El Salvador, claiming they're members of this gang Tren de Aragua. 34 00:02:30,733 --> 00:02:34,266 You have been reporting that some of these Venezuelan nationals, though, do not seem to be 35 00:02:34,266 --> 00:02:38,966 members of this gang at all. Has the government provided evidence of that gang membership? 36 00:02:38,966 --> 00:02:42,033 LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: The short answer is no. We have asked DHS repeatedly, 37 00:02:42,033 --> 00:02:46,100 others have asked the White House repeatedly whether or not they will 38 00:02:46,100 --> 00:02:49,133 provide a list of the migrants, of all the migrants available. 39 00:02:49,133 --> 00:02:54,100 CBS did obtain a list, but the -- Homeland Security has not provided one to us at all, Amna, 40 00:02:56,233 --> 00:03:00,200 of who these migrants are. And in court today, the ACLU's lead attorney, Lee Gelernt, actually 41 00:03:02,500 --> 00:03:06,066 provided some new information, saying that pretty soon they may file some sworn declarations showing 42 00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:12,600 that at least a number of the migrants that were sent to El Salvador had to be returned, 43 00:03:14,766 --> 00:03:18,133 because they were women or because they were not El Salvadoran or they were not Venezuelan. 44 00:03:18,133 --> 00:03:22,133 And he expects to file some of those sworn declarations in the coming days. Now, 45 00:03:22,133 --> 00:03:26,600 President Trump was asked about the fact that multiple examples are emerging that some of 46 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:31,600 these migrants appear to have no ties to Tren de Aragua whatsoever. And here's what he had to say. 47 00:03:33,266 --> 00:03:35,300 DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: I was told that they went 48 00:03:35,300 --> 00:03:38,500 through a very strong vetting process, and that that will also be continuing in 49 00:03:40,566 --> 00:03:44,433 El Salvador. And if there's anything like that, we would certainly want to find out. 50 00:03:44,433 --> 00:03:48,233 But these were a bad group. This was a bad group. 51 00:03:48,233 --> 00:03:51,033 LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: And multiple lawyers and family members have made clear that 52 00:03:51,033 --> 00:03:56,066 they have not been able to reach some of their loved ones who were deported, 53 00:03:56,066 --> 00:03:59,966 the ones that they believe are not tied to Tren de Aragua at all. 54 00:03:59,966 --> 00:04:04,933 And on this matter of them being sent to this mega-prison, Amna, 55 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:10,300 the president floated today that he is thinking that potentially they may send some American 56 00:04:12,633 --> 00:04:17,600 citizens to this El Salvadoran mega-prison if they are found to be convicted of attacks on Tesla. 57 00:04:19,500 --> 00:04:21,366 AMNA NAWAZ: Now, this is all, of course, 58 00:04:21,366 --> 00:04:24,300 happening as President Trump and Elon Musk are targeting judges. They're 59 00:04:24,300 --> 00:04:29,300 labeling them as radical. Did Judge Boasberg specifically respond to any of that today? 60 00:04:31,566 --> 00:04:33,966 LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Judge Boasberg did not respond to President Trump's attacks directly, 61 00:04:33,966 --> 00:04:38,433 but he did take issue with the way the Justice Department has talked about him in their filings, 62 00:04:40,233 --> 00:04:44,433 specifically saying that he found their language disrespectful, intemperate. 63 00:04:44,433 --> 00:04:49,433 And President Trump has posted repeatedly over the last 24 hours attacking Boasberg and the 64 00:04:51,366 --> 00:04:54,333 judiciary, saying that Judge Boasberg is trying to usurp his power. So those 65 00:04:54,333 --> 00:04:59,333 attacks are still ongoing, Amna, from President Trump, as well as from allies like Elon Musk. 66 00:05:01,133 --> 00:05:03,400 AMNA NAWAZ: A fast-moving story. We know you will stay on top of it. 67 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:05,400 Laura Barron-Lopez, thank you so much. 68 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:06,066 LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Thank you.