Left: United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio is seen in the Department of State building in Washington D.C. on Friday, June 20, 2025. (Photo by Aaron Schwartz/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images). Right: Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg (U.S. District Courts). Inset: President Donald Trump talks with reporters in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, June 18, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon).
The Trump administration cannot follow a federal judge's order to return or give hearings to hundreds of deported Venezuelans given the "delicate" nature of relations between the two countries, Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared.
Given the "sensitive" nature of the U.S.-Venezuela relationship in the wake of U.S. forces swiftly removing Nicolas Maduro from power and extraditing him to New York, the Trump administration says it cannot adhere to Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg's command that 137 men be given their due process rights.
Rubio began his two-page filing Monday in response to Boasberg's order by recounting the "surgical" operation to detain Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores and bring them to trial on narco-terrorism conspiracy and other charges.
"In the wake of this operation, the situation in Venezuela remains fluid," the chief U.S. diplomat wrote. "The United States remains involved to see changes in Venezuela that are beneficial to the United States and that it also expects will be beneficial for the people of Venezuela, who have suffered tremendously. These efforts entail ongoing, intensive, and extraordinarily delicate engagement with elements within the regime of Maduro's successor, so-called Acting President Delcy Rodríguez."
However, Rubio continues, while the U.S. played a part in the current situation on the ground in the Latin American country, it cannot make such a request to Rodriguez as Boasberg demands given how this "would risk material damage to U.S. foreign policy interests."
And, in his eyes, that "assessment holds true whether the proposal is to transport class members to a U.S. jurisdiction or to arrange remote hearings from Venezuela" given that the latter "present[s] a serious risk of intentional interference by anti-American elements in Venezuela that would undermine the interests of justice."
The chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has been severely critical of the administration previously in this case. Following the Venezuelan men's summary deportation to El Salvador on allegations of gang affiliation and their subsequent lawsuit seeking their return, Boasberg wrote in his December order that "this Court is declaring that Plaintiffs should not have been removed in the manner that they were, with virtually no notice and no opportunity to contest the bases of their removal, in clear contravention of their due-process rights."
The fact that the 252 Venezuelans — of whom 137 joined the suit — had since been sent back to Venezuela and released from law enforcement custody made little difference, Boasberg opined. The Trump administration still had to take steps to ensure they could file habeas petitions — or directly challenge their detentions.
Rubio and the Department of Justice (DOJ), however, still maintain that their return to Venezuela last July changes things.
"Given the passage of time, the U.S. government does not know—nor does it have any way of knowing—the whereabouts of class members, including whether anyone has departed Venezuela or whether the regime subsequently took anyone back into custody," he wrote.
The DOJ elaborated, saying, "circumstances in Venezuela have materially changed since the Court issued its order."
"Nicolas Maduro is now in United States custody awaiting trial; the situation on the ground in Venezuela is in flux; and the United States' relations with the regime of Maduro's successor, so-called Acting President Delcy Rodriguez, are at an extraordinarily sensitive juncture," the DOJ wrote to the judge. "In response to the Court's order, given the fluid situation in Venezuela, Defendants do not believe there is any feasible way to allow class members to file habeas petitions at this time."
The agency continued, saying it is not feasible to hold so many remote hearings — as the U.S. could not reasonably enforce perjury laws, verify the identities of the individuals testifying, or prevent against purposeful interference, and conducting such hearings in the country could "prompt diplomatic issues with the existing regime in Venezuela." Furthermore, "requiring engagement with the Rodriguez regime on this issue would disrupt ongoing negotiations."
The DOJ declared that if Boasberg reaffirms his order, it intends to appeal it.
The latest filings reflect a new chapter of the roughly 10-month saga between the Trump administration and Boasberg. While the Barack Obama appointee has excoriated the administration for its actions, so too has Trump himself taken aim at the judge. The commander in chief has called for Boasberg's impeachment and members of his Cabinet have accused him — without evidence — of being an "activist" judge.
Maduro, for his part, has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, saying he was "kidnapped" from his country.
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