U.S. District Judge James Boasberg found probable cause to hold Trump administration officials in criminal contempt for disobeying his order to immediately halt deportations under the Alien Enemies Act and turn around any airborne planes.
The Hill’s Rebecca Beitsch and Zach Schonfeld report:
“Boasberg’s order gives the administration a final opportunity to come into compliance but says he otherwise will take steps to identify the specific people who flouted his March 15 ruling, which was later lifted by the Supreme Court, and refer them for prosecution.”
It’s the latest in the standoff between the Trump administration and the courts over President Trump’s aggressive deportation efforts, which ensnared Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was the subject of a clerical error that sent him to a prison in El Salvador. An immigration judge had previously ruled that Garcia should not be sent back to his home country for safety reasons.
At a Tuesday hearing, a different federal judge ordered depositions be taken from several Trump officials, saying they failed to take the necessary steps to secure Garcia’s return.
The Trump administration says it has no authority to bring Garcia back. They claim he’s a gang member, although Garcia’s attorneys deny this.
The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday released court documents alleging Garcia’s wife sought a restraining order against him over allegations of domestic abuse.
“This MS-13 gang member is not a sympathetic figure,” the agency posted on X.
Garcia has been living in Maryland, where he married a U.S. citizen and has three children. The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that the government must “facilitate” Garcia’s return to the U.S., although they said the courts likely couldn’t force the government to “effectuate” his return.
Legal experts believe the high court will have to rule again on the matter.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) traveled Wednesday to El Salvador to do a wellness check on Garcia, although the government there denied his request to meet or speak with him.
Van Hollen said Salvadoran Vice President Félix Ulloa told him the government had no information connecting Garcia to MS-13.
“If the government of El Salvador has no evidence that he was part of MS-13, why is El Salvador continuing to hold him in CECOT?” Van Hollen said at a press conference.
It’s a fraught political issue that has inflamed debate in Washington.
Democrats warn the Trump administration is depriving people of due process, which could lead to further errors and the potential for U.S. citizens to get swept up in the deportations. They’re accusing the government of provoking a Constitutional crisis by ignoring court orders.
“If the president has the power to jail, imprison and deport anyone, even if they have a legal right to be here … then none of us are safe,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said.
Republicans, meanwhile, are accusing Democrats and the media of prioritizing the safety of criminal illegal immigrants over U.S. citizens, arguing that Trump was elected in part due to his promises to end the border crisis and crack down on illegal immigration.
Vice President Vance on Wednesday argued in a lengthy post on X that it would be impossible to give the millions of immigrants in the country illegally a court trial.
“The American people elected the Trump administration to solve this problem,” Vance said. “The President has successfully stopped the inflow of illegal aliens, and now we must deport the people who came here illegally.”
