The Justice Department says Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem authorized the mass deportation of more than 100 men despite a federal judge’s order to keep them in the U.S.

Noem, 53, made the decision last spring to ship the Venezuelan men to a jail in El Salvador notorious for human rights abuses, according to a court filing first detailed by Politico.

She did so after receiving legal advice from top DOJ officials, including Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and then-Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove.

“After receiving that legal advice, Secretary Noem directed that the AEA [Alien Enemies Act] detainees who had been removed from the United States before the Court’s order could be transferred to the custody of El Salvador,” DOJ attorney Tiberius Davis wrote.

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