"Oopsie... too late." El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele, posted this comment, along with a laughing emoji, on Sunday, March 16, after a US federal judge, James Boasberg, barred the deportation of 238 Venezuelans suspected of being gang members, who were set to be sent from the United States to a "terrorist containment center" (CECOT) in El Salvador. Too late, because the US military planes carrying the deportees were, apparently, already in the air when he first issued the oral order, and US President Donald Trump's administration had refused to comply with the demand that the aircraft turn back.

Judge Boasberg, therefore, called for a hearing late in the afternoon on Monday, March 17, and inquired: Did the White House ignore his order? In an unprecedented show of defiance, Department of Justice representatives, operating under Trump's authority, asked Boasberg to cancel the hearing – to no avail – and then refused to answer his questions about the flights' schedules, destination or the number of deportees, citing "national security concerns." The judge, whom the Department of Justice has also requested to have removed from the proceedings, has called for another hearing on the case, on March 21. Skeptical, Boasberg also demanded that the Trump administration provide him with answers by noon on Tuesday.

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