DC Circuit split on returning migrants from foreign prisons

A D.C. Circuit panel heard arguments over whether Chief Judge James Boasberg exceeded his authority by ordering the government to facilitate the return of over 200 Venezuelan men deported to El Salvador's CECOT prison under the Alien Enemies Act. The men were released to Venezuela in a prisoner exchange, and the government now argues there's nothing left to facilitate since they're free.

ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt argued that letting the ruling stand would hand the administration a permanent loophole: deport people without due process, then claim their eventual release elsewhere ends the matter. Judge A. Raymond Randolph seemed sympathetic to the government, noting habeas relief traditionally means release from confinement, which has already happened.

Judge Harry Edwards pushed back, noting the Supreme Court has held that migrants who've already crossed into the country retain due process rights, unlike migrants still at the border. The government paid El Salvador roughly $4.7 million to hold the men, but its attorney insisted the U.S. never had custody over them and warned that ruling otherwise could expose America to claims about conditions in prisons worldwide.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.