Homan on deportation flights: ‘I don’t care what the judges think’

Border czar Tom Homan said he doesn’t care what the judges think about the deportation flights of Venezuelan gang members as the administration faces a legal battle over the flight.

“I’m proud to be a part of this administration. We’re not stopping,” he said Monday on “Fox & Friends.” “I don’t care what the judges think. I don’t care.”

Over the weekend, President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, the third time the war-time act has been used and the first since World War II.

It was intended to target members of the gang Tren de Aragua (TdA), who Trump said could be arrested, restrained and removed from the country.

A federal judge expanded a temporary block on the deportations of five of the migrants and verbally ordered the plane carrying nearly 300 TdA members to not leave the U.S. or to turn around.

The Trump administration has insisted the plane was already out of U.S. jurisdiction, sparking a more complicated legal battle as the American Civil Liberties Union questioned if the White House defied the court order.

“It wasn’t until this flight was already in international waters heading down to El Salvador that the judge made some comment about returning the flights,” Homan said. “We’re already in international waters. We’re outside the borders of the United States.”

Homan argued that the judge’s decision to return the flights “defies logic” and he questioned why anyone would want “terrorists returned to the United States.”

“Look, President Trump, by proclamation, invoked the authorities of the Alien Enemies Act, which has a right to do, and it’s a game changer. And we removed over 200 violent criminals from the United States, not just TdA, but also MS-13.”

“The actions of President Trump made this country safer,” he added.