A federal judge — who the Trump administration sought to have yanked from a hearing in a case over the Alien Enemies Act — scolded the administration Monday afternoon for ignoring his direct order to turn around a plane of deported migrants.
Judge James Boasberg rebuked the administration in the case after the Trump administration asked an appeals court to remove him.
At the hearing, Boasberg was set to weigh in on whether the administration violated his order by sending deportation flights to El Salvador. The administration said the flights were over international waters when the order was handed down and they believed the order did not apply. They also argued the judge's order came too late to alter the planes' course, an argument deemed dubious by legal experts.
The White House has welcomed the legal showdown, with a senior official saying, "This is headed to the Supreme Court. And we're going to win."
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On Monday afternoon, Boasberg emphasized he "just want[s] to obtain some facts" and wasn't "planning to issue any rulings about the government's conduct today, it's just to get information."
When Boasberg asked the Justice Department how many planes departed the United States at any point on Saturday carrying any people being deported "solely on the basis of the proclamation," the DOJ refused to answer.
"DOJ says that the only thing they are authorized to say is that the two flights which took off after the written order were not relevant to this case (which I guess is saying they had no one subject to the AEA on board?). He then claims national security and diplomacy mean he won't answer further," remarked Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, on Bluesky.
When Boasberg demanded to know about two flights, the government continued to rebuff the requests, earning a slap on the wrist from Boasberg.
"Why are you showing up today and not having answers as to why you can't disclose it?" he asked, according to Reichlin-Melnick.
Boasberg was "incredulous" as the government refused to explain why they wouldn't disclose how many flights took off, as well as when he pressed the government on why it violated his order.
"So when I said directly turn the plane around, you read it because my written order was pithier, this could be disregarded? That's a heck of a stretch," Boasberg said.
The Justice Department essentially said that's what they're arguing and repeated its argument the flights were over international waters.
But the judge wasn't satisfied with the government's explanation.
"Boasberg says 'the equitable power of the United States courts is not so limited,' saying it's 'pretty clear' that even if the enjoined acts were outside the territory of the United States, you can't violate it," according to Reichlin-Melnick. The judge demanded to know, "What argument do you have the equity stops at this country's borders?"
At another point, Boasberg pressed the DOJ lawyer on what the government could have done with a ruling they thought was illegal.
“Isn’t then the better course to return the planes to the United States and figure out what to do, than say, ‘We don’t care; we’ll do what we want’?” he asked, according to Adam Klasfield, MSNBC legal contributor, on X.
