A federal judge in Washington found Wednesday there was probable cause the Trump administration engaged in criminal contempt of court for refusing to comply with his order stopping the deportation of migrants under a centuries-old wartime law.
Judge James E. Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in an opinion criticizes the Trump administration for the completion of flights with migrants accused of being members of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua who were among the first removed from the country under President Donald Trump’s proclamation.
Two civil rights groups had filed a lawsuit to stop the removals based on the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, and Boasberg issued a temporary restraining order to do so.
“Rather than comply with the Court’s Order, the Government continued the hurried removal operation,” Boasberg wrote in the 47-page decision Wednesday. “Early on Sunday morning — hours after the Order issued — it transferred two planeloads of passengers protected by the TRO into a Salvadoran mega-prison.”
Boasberg determined the actions of the U.S. government “demonstrate a willful disregard” to his temporary restraining order, which he said is “sufficient for the Court to conclude that probable cause exists to find the Government in criminal contempt.”
“The Court does not reach such [a] conclusion lightly or hastily; indeed, it has given Defendants ample opportunity to rectify or explain their actions,” Boasberg said. “None of their responses has been satisfactory.”
Boasberg, in an accompanying two-page order, gives the U.S. government two options: If it chooses to purge its contempt, it must file a legal brief explaining the steps it has taken and will take to fulfill that action.
If, however, the Trump administration decides not to purge its contempt, it must file a legal brief identifying which individuals with knowledge of the court order made the decision not to halt the transfer of individuals out of U.S. custody on March 15 and 16.
Both legal briefs would be due April 23.
Boasberg previously has demanded the U.S. government provide information about the flights, particularly on the question of whether the planes could have returned to the United States to comply with his verbal order, which was followed up by a written order.
The Trump administration had invoked the state secrets privilege as the basis for withholding information on flights. The U.S. government transferred more than 260 migrants to El Salvador, including 137 alleged Tren de Aragua members under the proclamation.
Despite the U.S. government’s refusal to hand over information on the timing of the flights, Boasberg wrote he has found evidence indicating they took off after he issued his verbal order.
“Although the Government has refused to provide the particular details, all evidence suggests that during the short window that the Court was adjourned, two removal flights took off from Harlingen — one around 5:25 p.m. and the other at about 5:45 p.m,” Boasberg wrote.
Boasberg’s decision is consistent with his harsh questioning for the attorney representing the U.S. government during a contempt hearing on April 3, when the judge said the Trump administration “acted in bad faith” throughout the day.
The Supreme Court has since vacated the court order issued by Boasberg on the basis that migrants must file their challenges to the Alien Enemies Act removals in the court with jurisdiction over where they are being held.
Boasberg in his decision addresses the question on how he can find the U.S. government likely committed contempt even though his order was vacated, asserting the “determination that the TRO suffered from a legal defect … does not excuse the Government’s violation.”
“If a party chooses to disobey the order — rather than wait for it to be reversed through the judicial process — such disobedience is punishable as contempt, notwithstanding any later-revealed deficiencies in the order,” Boasberg writes.
Boasberg has drawn criticism from Trump and other government officials after he temporarily halted the removals.
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