FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 2025
Trump administration embroiled in standoff with judges raising threats of contempt proceedings
Published on Apr 17, 2025
By IANS
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- New York — President Donald Trump’s administration has become embroiled in a standoff with the judiciary over its program to send to El Salvador illegal migrants who are allegedly members of criminal gangs now declared as foreign terrorist organisations.
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- A federal judge on Wednesday threatened criminal contempt proceedings against the administration for not following his order to return to the US a plane that was ferrying Venezuelan migrants to a notorious high-security detention centre in El Salvador.
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- Another federal judge had on Tuesday told the Justice Department that she was going to move against it for failing to comply with orders to bring back a Salvadoran migrant whom the government admitted had been erroneously deported to El Salvador.
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- She also held out the possibility of contempt proceedings against officials.
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- The threats by the two judges in separate cases to rein in the administration’s deportation actions test the Constitution’s separation of powers between the executive and judicial branches of government.
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- Trump and his officials have brushed off the judiciary’s threats.
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- Judge James Boasberg said that there was probable cause to hold the administration in contempt for failing to return the migrants en route to El Salvador to give them a chance to challenge their deportation in a US court.
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- The Justice Department maintains that once the planes were in flight they were out of the court’s jurisdiction and could not be returned.
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- “The Constitution does not tolerate willful disobedience of judicial orders — especially by officials of a coordinate branch who have sworn an oath to uphold it”, Boasberg said.
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- The administration, which invoked the Alien Enemies Act to deport them, has refused to provide him with details about the migrants, asserting that it would compromise state secrets.
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- The administration asserted that 238 Venezuelans were members of the dangerous criminal gang Tren de Aragua involved in crimes in the US and abroad and since it has been declared a foreign terrorist organisation it could act against them under the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 law.
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- Boasberg said that the government would not have to bring them back, but only give them a chance to challenge their deportation in court.
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- Failing that, he would require officials to testify under oath to identify those who disregarded his order and prosecute whoever was responsible, he said.
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- When a court cites someone for criminal contempt, the Justice Department prosecutes them.
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- If it refused to prosecute, Boasberg indicated he would appoint an outside lawyer as the prosecutor.
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- The Trump administration said it would challenge Boasberg, taking it to the Supreme Court where it had earlier notched a partial victory against him in another matter.
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- On appeal, the Supreme Court struck down a temporary order by Boasberg to stop deportations under the Alien Enemies Act, but upheld the rights of those facing deportation under the law to challenge it in court.
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- In the other case, the Salvadoran man Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported by mistake although a judge had ordered that he should not be sent to El Salvador where he may face violence.
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- Judge Paula Xinis ordered the government to bring him back.
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- On an appeal, the Supreme Court partially sided with the judge, ordering the government to only “facilitate” his return, rather than actually bring him back as Xinis ordered.
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- On Monday, at a White House meeting with Trump, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele said he would not release Garcia from the dreaded Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) prison for hardened criminals.
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- Attorney General Pam Bondi said that the matter was in the hands of Bukele and Garcia was “not coming back” and it was the “end of story”.
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- Taking a narrow interpretation of the Supreme Court’s dictum to “facilitate” Garcia’s return, Bondi said if El Salvador released him the US would provide a plane to bring him back.
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- The government says that though the deportation was a mistake, Garcia belonged to MS-13, a notorious gang with roots in El Salvador.
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- Xinis had asked the Justice Department to provide regular updates on what it was doing to facilitate his return, and information on his case.
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- Frustrated by the government’s refusal to fully respond, she said, “There will be no tolerance for gamesmanship or grandstanding”.
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- She ordered four government officials to sit for a deposition next week with Garcia’s lawyers.
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- The Administration’s lawyer Dave Ensign indicated that the government may appeal her ruling.
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- Ultimately, the Supreme Court may have the final say on contempt proceedings, and were they to come about it could set the scene for a momentous confrontation between the Trump administration and the judiciary.
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- Trump has called Boasberg a “radical left lunatic” and a group of Republican members of the House of Representatives have introduced a resolution to impeach him.
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