Judge finds cause to hold Trump administration in criminal contempt over deportation flights
The Trump administration had invoked a rarely used wartime law known as the Alien Enemies Act to deport people it claimed were members of a Venezuelan gang.
WASHINGTON — A federal judge said in an order Wednesday that he has found probable cause to hold the Trump administration in contempt over deportation flights it sent to El Salvador.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg found "the Government’s actions on that day demonstrate a willful disregard for its Order, sufficient for the Court to conclude that probable cause exists to find the Government in criminal contempt.”
“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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Boasberg said the administration could purge his contempt finding by taking custody of the people it deported despite his order and giving them hearings so they can challenge the allegations against them. The "Government would not need to release any of those individuals, nor would it need to transport them back to the homeland" for that process, he wrote.
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