'Whoa': Legal expert floored as report could reveal if Trump's ICE 'telling the truth'

A prominent immigration attorney was shocked over a report that could reveal if Immigration and Customs Enforcement was "telling the truth" about the last of three flights to El Salvador carrying alleged Venezuelan gang members.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow with the American Immigration Council, wrote on X, "Whoa. @404mediaco reports that hackers have shared flight manifests for the 3 GlobalX flights to El Salvador on March 15. This could confirm whether ICE is telling the truth that the third plane, which took off after Boasberg's order had only people with final orders of removal."

The federal government had argued in court that it had no information to share about the flights, which were ordered to return to the United States, but proceeded to El Salvador because the government claimed they had already departed.

Reporters Joseph Cox and Jason Koebler of 404 Media wrote that "The data, which the hackers contacted 404 Media and other journalists about unprompted, could provide granular insight into who exactly has been deported on GlobalX flights, when, and to where."

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Koebler posted to his X account a "defacement message" from "Anonymous" that the group allegedly left on the GlobalIX website.

The screenshot read, "Anonymous has decided to enforce the Judge's order since you and your sycophant staff ignore lawful orders that go against your fascist plans. You lose again Donnie."

The 404 Media report continued, "The hacker says the data includes flight records and passenger lists. The hacker sent 404 Media a copy of the data, which is sorted into folders dated everyday from January 19 through May 1. 404 Media cross-checked known information about ICE deportation flights that come from official and confirmable sources with information contained on the flight manifests and flight details obtained by the hacker. Information about Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s flight is in the hacked data."

The reporters said they were currently reviewing the information.

"404 Media is not publishing the full list of passengers at this time as we work to verify which passengers were specifically on deportation flights and to protect peoples’ privacy because the manifests contain personally sensitive information like passport details. We will continue to analyze the data for information in the public interest and explore what we’re able to publish," they wrote.

Read the 404 Media report here.