Trump officials defend use of wartime law to deport migrants

By Valerie Volcovici and Nathan Layne

WASHINGTON, March 23 (Reuters) - Trump administration officials on Sunday defended their use of extraordinary war powers to deport scores of Venezuelan migrants despite a judge blocking the move and Venezuela denying U.S. officials' assertions that the deportees were gang members.

"It's modern-day warfare, and we are going to continue to fight that and protect American citizens every single step of the way," Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on the "Sunday Morning Futures" program.

Bondi said the Trump administration's decision to deport 137 Venezuelan migrants last weekend to El Salvador was justified because they were members of Venezuela's feared Tren de Aragua gang and posed a safety risk.

Venezuela's interior minister, Diosdado Cabello, said on Friday, however, that none of the Venezuelans deported by the U.S. to El Salvador were members of the gang, which Washington has declared a terrorist group. Relatives and immigration advocates for some of the men have also denied any links.

The administration used the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, a wartime law, to deport the migrants on the grounds that they were committing violent crimes and sending money back to Venezuela.

White House National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said on CBS' "Face the Nation" program, without citing evidence, that Tren de Aragua was a proxy of the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

"The alien sedition act fully applies because we have also determined that this group is acting as a proxy of the Maduro regime," Waltz said. "Maduro is deliberately emptying his prisons in a proxy manner to influence an attack on the United States."

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said on Friday he would continue to probe whether the Trump administration violated his order temporarily blocking the use of the act for deportations after it failed to turn around two flights carrying the Venezuelans.

The Trump administration is facing a March 25 deadline to respond to his request for more details on the deportations.

Some legal scholars view the situation as an escalation in President Donald Trump's confrontation with the judiciary and say it raises concerns of a looming constitutional crisis.

Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, told ABC News' "This Week" program that he would not defy Boasberg's order but reiterated that the Trump administration would continue its arrests of migrants they deem dangerous.

"We're going to continue to arrest public safety threats and national security threats," Homan said. "We will keep targeting the worst of the worst."

Bondi criticized Boasberg for interfering with the Trump administration's agenda.

"This is an out-of-control judge, a federal judge trying to control our entire foreign policy," she said.

On Friday, Boasberg told a justice department lawyer at a hearing that he could not recall ever having heard government lawyers address him in the way the administration had in this case. He did not specify what language he took issue with.

Bondi also stepped up her critiques of other federal judges who she accused of trying to stymie the president's policies.

"We are in court every day, fighting against these activist judges. We're not going to stop. Many of them should be recused from these cases," Bondi said. "They will be recused from these cases."