Appeals court blocks contempt proceedings against Trump administration over El Salvador deportations
A federal appeals court on Friday overturned U.S. District Judge James Boasberg's attempt to initiate contempt proceedings against the Trump administration related to the March deportation of hundreds of migrants to El Salvador, in what the panel's majority described as an "extraordinary, ongoing confrontation between the Executive and Judicial Branches."
In a 2-1 decision, Judges Gregory Katsas and Neomi Rao -- both Trump appointees -- vacated Judge Boasberg's contempt-related order that sought to determine if members of the Trump administration deliberately defied a court order after the president invoked the Alien Enemies Act in March.
"The district court's order raises troubling questions about judicial control over core executive functions like the conduct of foreign policy and the prosecution of criminal offenses. And it implicates an unsettled issue whether the judiciary may impose criminal contempt for violating injunctions entered without jurisdiction," Judge Katsas wrote in a concurring opinion.
The Trump administration invoked the Alien Enemies Act -- an 18th century wartime authority used to remove noncitizens with little-to-no due process -- to deport two planeloads of alleged migrant gang members to the CECOT mega-prison in El Salvador by arguing that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is a "hybrid criminal state" that is invading the United States.
Boasberg issued a temporary restraining order and ordered that the planes be turned around, but Justice Department attorneys said his oral instructions directing the flight to be returned were defective, and the deportations proceeded as planned.
Boasberg subsequently sought contempt proceedings against the government for deliberately defying his order.
Judge Katsas, in Friday's decision, wrote that the "ambiguities" in Judge Boasberg's original order blocking the removal of the migrants make it impossible to definitively say that the Trump administration acted in contempt.
"At the time of the alleged contempt, just hours after the TRO hearing and before any transcript of it was available, the district court's minute order could reasonably have been read either way. Thus, the TRO cannot support a criminal-contempt conviction here," he wrote.
In a searing dissent, Judge Cornelia Pillard defended Judge Boasberg's attempt to initiate contempt proceedings to "vindicate the authority of the court" after the "apparently contumacious conduct."
"The rule of law depends on obedience to judicial orders," she wrote. " Yet, shortly after the district court granted plaintiffs' emergency motion for a temporary restraining order, defendants appear to have disobeyed it. Our system of courts cannot long endure if disappointed litigants defy court orders with impunity rather than legally challenge them. That is why willful disobedience of a court order is punishable as criminal contempt."
ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt, the lead counsel in the case, said following the ruling, "We strongly disagree with today's decision regarding contempt and are considering all options going forward. Even DOJ's own lawyers have now stated publicly that they understood that they were not supposed to hand over these men to El Salvador. There was zero ambiguity in the moment."
Attorney General Pam Bondi celebrated Friday's ruling on social media, calling Judge Boasberg's order "failed judicial overreach at its worst."
"Our @TheJusticeDept attorneys just secured a MAJOR victory defending President Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport illegal alien terrorists. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed what we've argued for months: Judge Boasberg's attempt to sanction the government for deporting criminal-alien terrorists was a "clear abuse of discretion," Bondi wrote. "We will continue fighting and WINNING in court for President Trump's agenda to keep America Safe!"
