A federal judge Wednesday said he’d found probable cause to hold the Trump administration in contempt of court for showing “a willful disregard” toward his March 15 orders requiring it return to the U.S. the hundreds of Venezuelan migrants it sent to a notorious prison in El Salvador using the Alien Enemies Act (AEA), an 18th century wartime law.
District Judge James Boasberg added that the administration risked making a “solemn mockery” of the Constitution.
“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,” the judge wrote.
Boasberg said he was launching contempt proceedings against the Trump administration. Boasberg added that the administration could have the contempt findings erased from the record if it regains custody of those removed under the AEA. If it doesn’t, the judge said he will identify the Trump officials responsible for defying the court and pursue sanctions against them.
Last month, President Donald Trump invoked the AEA through an executive order to transfer hundreds of people his administration claimed were members of Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal organization that originated in Venezuela, to El Salvador.
Lawyers from Democracy Forward* and the ACLU quickly filed a class action lawsuit, asking Boasberg to issue a temporary restraining order to block the move.
The judge granted the plaintiffs request, ordering the Trump administration to turn around two ongoing flights carrying those removed under the AEA. The Trump administration did not comply and even sent a third flight to El Salvador hours after Boasberg issued his order.
Wednesday, Boasberg stopped short of holding the Trump administration in contempt immediately, instead giving it a chance to rectify its behavior.
“The most obvious way for Defendants to do so here is by asserting custody of the individuals who were removed in violation of the Court’s classwide TRO so that they might avail themselves of their right to challenge their removability,” Boasberg wrote.
This story has been updated with additional details.