A federal appeals court temporarily paused a lower court’s ruling that found probable cause to hold Trump administration officials in criminal contempt for not returning planes of illegal immigrants they deported in March.
On Friday, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit halted a ruling U.S. District Judge James Boasberg handed down on Wednesday that faulted the Trump administration for “willful disobedience of judicial orders” when it deported Venezuelan nationals to El Salvador last month. The temporary pause did not delve into the merits of Boasberg’s ruling.
“The purpose of this administrative stay is to give the court sufficient opportunity to consider the emergency motion for a stay pending appeal or a writ of mandamus and should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits of that motion,” the Washington, D.C., circuit judges wrote.
Cornelia Pillard, an Obama appointee, was the only dissenter among the fifteen judges sitting on the appeals court.
The case regards plane loads of Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang suspects the U.S. deported to El Salvador on March 15. On that same day, Boasburg handed down an order that temporarily paused President Donald Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport the illegal immigrants.
The Alien Enemies Act is a law dating back to 1798 that allows the president to remove suspected national security threats during wartime. The Trump administration has invoked it to remove suspected members of the Tren de Aragua gang.
Boasburg said the government “deliberately flouted” his orders halting the deporations. The Trump administration argued that by the time the judge issued his order, the Venezuelans “had already been removed from U.S. territory” and were over international waters. The White House has refused to return the deportees to U.S. territory.
TRUMP DOJ ASKS APPEALS COURT TO REVIEW BOASBERG’S CONTEMPT THREAT
“The court lost jurisdiction the moment the planes left U.S. airspace,” Justice Department attorney Abhishek Kambli said.
The appeals courts’ Friday ruling comes after the Justice Department filed an emergency request Wednesday evening asking it to intervene with Boasburg’s threat to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt.
