WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 A federal judge on Wednesday said he has found probable cause to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt of court and warned he could seek officials’ prosecution for violating his orders last month to turn around planes carrying deportees to an El Salvador prison.
The ruling from U.S District Judge James E. Boasberg, whom President Donald Trump has said should be impeached, marks a dramatic battle between the over the president鈥檚 powers to carry out key White House priorities.
Boasberg accused administration officials of rushing deportees out of the country under last month before they could challenge their removal in court, and then willfully disregarding his order that planes already in the air should return to the United States.
The judge said he could hold hearings and potentially refer the matter for prosecution if the administration does not act to remedy the violation. If Trump’s Justice Department leadership declines to prosecute the matter, Boasberg said he will appoint another attorney to do so.
鈥淭he Constitution does not tolerate willful disobedience of judicial orders 鈥 especially by officials of a coordinate branch who have sworn an oath to uphold it,” wrote Boasberg, the chief judge of Washington’s federal court.
The administration said it would appeal.
鈥淭he President is 100% committed to ensuring that terrorists and criminal illegal migrants are no longer a threat to Americans and their communities across the country,鈥 White House communications director Steven Cheung wrote in a post on X.
The case has become one of the most contentious amid a slew of legal battles being waged against the Republican administration that has put the White House on a collision course with the federal courts.
Administration officials have repeatedly criticized judges for reigning in the president’s actions, accusing the courts of improperly impinging on his executive powers. Trump and his allies have called for impeaching Boasberg, prompting from Chief Justice John Roberts, who said 鈥渋mpeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.鈥
Boasberg wrote that the government鈥檚 鈥渃onduct betrayed a desire to outrun the equitable reach of the Judiciary.鈥
Boasberg said the government could avoid contempt proceedings if it takes custody of the deportees, who were sent to the El Salvador prison in violation of his order, so they have a chance to challenge their removal. It was not clear how that would work because the judge said the government “would not need to release any of those individuals, nor would it need to transport them back to the homeland.鈥
The judge did not say which official or officials could be held in contempt. He is giving the government until April 23 to explain the steps it has taken to remedy the violation, or instead identify the individual or people who made the decision not to turn the planes around.
In a separate case, the administration has acknowledged mistakenly deporting to the El Salvador prison, but does not intend to return him to the U.S. despite a Supreme Court ruling that the administration must 鈥渇acilitate鈥 his release. The judge in that case has said she is determining whether to undertake contempt proceedings, saying officials 鈥渁ppear to have done nothing to aid in Abrego Garcia鈥檚 release from custody and return to the United States.鈥
Boasberg, who was nominated for the federal bench by Democratic President Barack Obama, had ordered the administration last month not to deport anyone in its custody under the Alien Enemies Act after Trump invoked the 1798 wartime law over what he claimed was an invasion by the Venezuelan gang .
When Boasberg was told there were already planes in the air headed to El Salvador, which has agreed to house deported migrants in a prison, the judge said the aircraft needed to be returned to the United States. But hours later, El Salvador鈥檚 president, Nayib Bukele, announced that the deportees had arrived in his country. In a social media post, he said, 鈥淥opsie...too late鈥 above an article referencing Boasberg鈥檚 order.
The administration has argued it did not violate any orders, noted the judge did not include the turnaround directive in his written order and said the planes had already left the U.S. by the time that order came down.
The Supreme Court earlier this month blocking the deportations under the Alien Enemies Act, but said the immigrants must be given a chance to fight their removals before they are deported. The conservative majority said the legal challenges must take place in Texas, instead of a Washington courtroom.
Boasberg wrote that even though the Supreme Court found his order 鈥渟uffered from a legal defect,鈥 that 鈥渄oes not excuse the Government鈥檚 violation.鈥 The judge added that the government appeared to have “defied the Court’s order deliberately and gleefully,鈥 noting that Secretary of State Marco Rubio retweeted the post from Bukele after the planes landed in El Salvador despite the judge’s order.
“The Court does not reach such conclusion lightly or hastily; indeed, it has given Defendants ample opportunity to rectify or explain their actions. None of their responses has been satisfactory,” Boasberg wrote.
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Associated Press writer Mark Sherman contributed to this report.
