The Trump administration moved to invoke the “state secrets privilege” in its ongoing case regarding the deportation of Venezuelan gang members.
The “state secrets privilege” is a legal doctrine developed by the Supreme Court that “protects sensitive national security information from being disclosed in civil litigation,” a summary of the doctrine explains.
A court filing on the matter states that the “Executive Branch hereby notifies the Court that no further information will be provided in response to the Court’s March 18, 2025, Minute Order based on the state secrets privilege and the concurrently filed declarations of the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security.”
“The Court has all of the facts it needs to address the compliance issues before it. Further intrusions on the Executive Branch would present dangerous and wholly unwarranted separation-of-powers harms with respect to diplomatic and national security concerns that the Court lacks competence to address,” the filing adds. “Accordingly, the states secrets privilege forecloses further demands for details that have no place in this matter, and the government will address the Court’s order to show cause tomorrow by demonstrating that there is no basis for the suggestion of noncompliance with any binding order.”
“In any event, the government has already confirmed that ‘two flights carrying aliens being removed under the AEA departed U.S. airspace before the Court’s minute order of 7:25 PM EDT,'” the filing reads.
The court filing comes as Judge James Boasberg issued an order to halt the deportation flights. Boasberg issued an order Tuesday that gives plaintiffs until March 31 to respond to the Trump administration’s move.
Twenty-six attorneys general recently filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit detailing their support for the deportation of Venezuelan gang members.
“President Trump’s recent executive order uses constitutional and statutory authority to deport Venezuelan citizens who are members of TdA and are not American citizens or lawful permanent residents,” the filing says, arguing that the order to halt the deportation effort “undermines the security of the States.”
