美国司法部周二在法庭文件中表示，国土安全部长克里斯蒂·诺姆最终决定允许将一批被驱逐者移交萨尔瓦多，此前一名法官裁定他们的航班必须返回美国。

美国地区法官詹姆斯·博斯伯格正在调查特朗普政府是否违反了其停止3月中旬驱逐航班的命令，包括他口头指示政府在必要时"调转飞机"。与此同时，相关文件被提交。博斯伯格指责政府对其裁决表现出"蓄意漠视"的态度。

美国司法部周二辩称，政府"并未违反"博阿斯伯格的命令，且"无需也不应进行进一步诉讼程序"。

但政府确实确认了国土安全部和司法部哪些官员参与了不遣返航班的决策。

根据周二提交的文件，博阿斯伯格法官作出裁决后不久，司法部官员德鲁·恩西恩就将裁决内容传达给了国土安全部和司法部领导层。随后，司法部副部长托德·布兰奇和首席助理副部长埃米尔·博夫向国土安全部代理总法律顾问提供了建议，后者又将建议转达给了诺姆。

根据文件内容，诺姆（Noem）认定这批被拘留者"在法院命令下达前已被移出美国，并可能被移交至萨尔瓦多监管"。

文件指出，这一举措"符合法律规定，且与对法院命令的合理解释相一致"。

这些争议航班是特朗普政府一项行动的一部分，该行动旨在将涉嫌犯罪的委内瑞拉帮派成员遣送至萨尔瓦多，后者政府将其监禁数月。美方辩称此举依据1798年《敌对外侨法》属合法行为，并作为打击暴力犯罪的必要措施，但遭到法院和维权人士的反对，他们认为被驱逐者未获得充分的正当程序权利。

移民提起的一项诉讼促使博阿斯伯格法官下令依据《敌对外侨法》暂缓驱逐行动，包括召回已起飞的遣返航班。但部分航班仍在飞行途中并最终抵达萨尔瓦多。博阿斯伯格指控政府违抗这些命令，并表示有充分理由裁定政府藐视法庭。

政府长期以来否认其违背了博阿斯伯格的命令，并指出他在3月15日发布的书面与口头命令存在差异。法官在书面命令中阻止了一系列依据《敌对外侨法》实施的驱逐行动，但与他当天早些时候的口头命令不同，书面命令并未明确重申政府必须召回已在途中的飞机。

上诉法院法官驳回了博斯伯格法官关于存在合理依据的裁定，但另一个合议庭随后表示，这位华盛顿特区联邦地区法院的首席法官可以继续调查特朗普政府是否违反了他的法庭命令。博斯伯格上周表示，他将重启对藐视法庭行为的调查。

代表原告方的美国公民自由联盟已要求国土安全部和司法部超过六名潜在证人出庭作证，就拒绝让飞机返航的决定进行公开陈述。

美国公民自由联盟（ACLU）推荐的一位证人是前司法部检察官埃雷兹·雷武埃尼（Erez Revueni）。他指控该部门在多起案件中试图违抗或误导法官，包括驱逐出境案件。对此，司法部已否认雷武埃尼的指控。

该部门于周二回应称：“目前无需进行现场证词。”

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Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem made the final decision to allow a group of deportees to be handed over to El Salvador after a judge said their flights must be returned to the United States, the Justice Department said in a court filing Tuesday .

The filing came as U.S. District Judge James Boasberg continues his inquiry into whether the Trump administration violated his orders to halt the mid-March deportation flights, including his verbal directive for the government to "turn around a plane" if necessary. Boasberg has accused the government of showing a "willful disregard" for his rulings.

The administration, the Justice Department argued on Tuesday, "did not violate" Boasberg's order, and "no further proceedings are warranted or appropriate."

But the administration did identify which Department of Homeland Security and Justice Department officials were involved in the decision not to turn the deportation flights around.

Shortly after Boasberg issued his rulings, Justice Department official Drew Ensign conveyed them to the DHS and Justice Department leadership, according to Tuesday's filing. Then, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove offered advice to DHS's acting general counsel, who passed on the advice to Noem.

Noem concluded the class of detainees "who had been removed from the United States before the Court's order could be transferred to the custody of El Salvador," according to the filing.

The filing says this move "was lawful and was consistent with a reasonable interpretation of the Court's order."

The flights in question were part of a Trump administration initiative to send accused Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador, whose government held them in prison for months. The administration argues that gambit was legal under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 and warranted as part of its crackdown on violent crime, but it has faced pushback from courts and advocates who argue the deportees weren't given sufficient due process.

One lawsuit brought by migrants led Boasberg to order a temporary halt to removals under the Alien Enemies Act, including by returning deportation flights that had already taken off. But the midair flights continued on to El Salvador. Boasberg accused the government of disobeying those orders, and said there is probable cause to hold the government in contempt of court.

The administration has long denied that it disobeyed Boasberg, pointing to discrepancies between his written and verbal orders on March 15. The judge blocked a set of Alien Enemies Act deportations in his written order, but unlike in his verbal order earlier in the day, he didn't explicitly reiterate that the government must turn around planes that were already en route.

Appeals court judges tossed out Boasberg's finding of probable cause , but a different panel later said that Boasberg, who is the chief judge for the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., could continue his probe into whether the Trump administration had violated his court order. He signaled last week that he will resume his contempt of court inquiry.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the plaintiffs, has asked for more than half a dozen potential DHS and Justice Department witnesses to be put on the stand in open court to testify about the decision not to turn the planes around.

One witness that the ACLU suggested is former Justice Department attorney Erez Revueni, who has accused the department of trying to defy or mislead judges in several instances, including in the deportation case. The department has denied Reuveni's allegations.

The department responded on Tuesday: "No live testimony is warranted at this time."

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