Topline
U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg won’t lift his earlier ban on the deportation of immigrants under the Alien Enemies Act, denying a Trump administration request and ruling it likely violated the due process rights of migrants who were deported to El Salvador.
President Donald Trump delivers remarks in the Oval Office of the White House on March 21 in … More
Key Facts
Boasberg rejected the Trump administration’s request to throw out a previous order he issued, which barred the administration from deporting immigrants under President Donald Trump’s executive order invoking the Alien Enemies Act.
The act—typically used during wartime—gives Trump broad authority over deporting immigrants from enemy countries, and the Trump administration has invoked the law as a justification to deport Venezuelan migrants alleged to have ties to criminal organization Tren de Aragua.
The Trump administration had reiterated its request for Boasberg to allow deportation flights under the Alien Enemies Act, claiming Boasberg does not have jurisdiction to take up the case and overrule Trump’s executive order.
Boasberg did not rule on his judicial authority here, instead saying it doesn’t matter whether or not he has authority over the Alien Enemies Act, because the Trump administration likely violated the law regardless by deporting migrants before their claims could be heard in court.
The Trump administration has deported more than 250 Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador, but lawyers representing some of those deported—including the ones who brought the lawsuit that led to Boasberg’s ruling—have argued their clients were not actually members of Tren de Aragua, and were deported before they could ever prove their innocence in court.
The issue of the migrants’ due process rights is a new wrinkle in the case that’s come up since Boasberg’s initial ruling, which came out before he was aware anyone had already been deported.
Crucial Quote
“Because the named Plaintiffs dispute that they are members of Tren de Aragua, they may not be deported until a court has been able to decide the merits of their challenge,” Boasberg wrote.
What To Watch For
A panel of federal appeals court judges will consider Boasberg’s initial ruling blocking the deportation flights at a hearing Monday at 1:30 p.m. EDT.
Key Background
Boasberg has become a key target of Trump and his allies for blocking the deportation flights—and suggesting the Trump administration may have defied his order by sending migrants to El Salvador anyway—with the president and some GOP lawmakers calling for the judge to be impeached. The case has become a flashpoint as Trump’s actions have been challenged in court, as his administration sent alleged members of Tren de Aragua to El Salvador on flights that landed after Boasberg’s ruling blocking them was issued. That’s raised criticism the Trump administration violated Boasberg’s order—which the White House denies, claiming the flights left before Boasberg’s ruling came out and the judge lost jurisdiction over the flights once they left U.S. airspace. The judge has not yet ruled on whether the Trump administration violated his order.
Chief Critic
Trump and his allies have strongly opposed Boasberg’s handling of the case, claiming he does not have authority to question Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act. “A single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft carrier full of foreign alien terrorists who were physically expelled from U.S. soil,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement after Boasberg’s initial order was issued.
Trump Calls For Boasberg To Be Impeached
Trump has repeatedly attacked Boasberg on social media in the days since the judge’s initial ruling, calling for him to be impeached. Echoing attacks Trump has previously made against other judges that have issued unfavorable rulings, the president has claimed Boasberg—the chief judge for Washington D.C.’s federal district court—is biased against him and “should be disbarred,” posting a photo of Boasberg with former Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and sharing a post regarding comments Boasberg made in 2023 about the prosecutions against Jan. 6 rioters. The post falsely claims Boasberg admitted he didn’t think there were “harsh enough laws” to punish the rioters, misstating the judge’s actual comments, which instead argued the Jan. 6 riots presented new legal questions that weren’t adequately answered by existing laws and legal precedent.
Were All The People On The Deportation Flights Members Of Tren De Aragua?
A number of allegations have come out about the Trump administration deporting people on the flights to El Salvador who had no ties to Tren de Aragua, including migrants who sought asylum in the U.S. to avoid being victims of the gang’s violence. Immigration lawyers and family members of deported migrants have identified such people on the flights as Andrys, a gay makeup artist, and a soccer coach who fled Venezuela after taking part in protests against the government, among others—neither of whom have any ties to Tren de Aragua and were both in the U.S. legally. Those representing the migrants have alleged the Trump administration targeted Venezuelan immigrants based on whether or not they have tattoos.
Further Reading
