James Boasberg, head of the American court for the District of Columbia, attends a panel discussion at the annual American Board Association (ABA) Spring Antitrust meeting in the Marriott Marquis in Washington, DC, on 2 April 2025.
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WASHINGTON – A federal judge on Thursday said there is an “fair probability” who has violated the Trump government about its decision to have two flights carry that migrants transport to stay to El Salvador last month, even though he returned the planes.
Judge James Boasberg of the US James Boasberg On Thursday, the Ministry of Justice urged the use of the Alien Enemies Act to explain a rarely used war forces and details and the timeline of the flights, something that the administration has suggested is confidential information that is covered by state secrets.
“If you really believed that everything you did that day was legal and could survive a court challenge, I can’t believe you would have operated on the way you did,” Boasberg told the lawyers for the Ministry of Justice.
He also expressed skepticism about the government that called on the doctrine of the state secrets, and pushed the government to mention another case in which non -classified information was covered under that privilege.
But Drew Ensign, a deputy assistant -processor -general, doubled the arguments that the Ministry of Justice had put forward in the case -that the first order from Boasberg, a verbal, did not wear as much weight as his written order hours later.
He also argued before the court that the government did not violate its orders, but Boasberg was not convinced.
“So it seems to me, there is a fair chance that that is not correct,” Boasberg replied. “In fact, the government acted in bad faith that day,” he said.
Flights to El Salvador
The US flights left the US on 15 March, on the same day that President Trump called on the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
The government argues that the President’s proclamation gives him the authority to quickly remove the alleged members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang who has been designated by the White House as a foreign terrorist organization, without regular appropriate process. The government sent more than 100 men to a maximum safety prison in El Salvador under the law.
The proponents of the American Civil Liberties Union and other immigrant rights have quickly brought a lawsuit to block the removal of the men, and Right Boasberg held an emergency hearing seat that afternoon.
Boasberg blocked the Trump government to use the Alien Enemies Act to deport someone and told the lawyers of the Ministry of Justice Verbal that each plane in the air “should be sent back” to the US, but the planes have not been reversed. They landed in El Salvador later that day.
Subsequent steps
On Thursday, Boasberg suggested that the next steps could include contempt procedures. He said that that order would probably be issued next week.
The case has many moving parts.
The Trump government appealed against Boasberg’s March -Bevel in the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. In a voice of 2 to 1The court chose Boasberg’s side.
In her opinion, Judge Patricia Millett said that the alleged gang members had no opportunity to challenge the allegations against them before they were sent to El Salvador.
The Trump government appealed against the decision at the US Supreme Court, which currently weighs or have to intervene.
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