Boasberg has likely cause to hold Trump officials in criminal contempt over deportation flights

A federal judge named James Boasberg ruled that there is strong reason to believe Trump administration officials should be held in criminal contempt for ignoring court orders about deportation flights to El Salvador in March 2025.

As reported by NBC and CNN, this decision comes after a legal dispute that started when five Venezuelan men sued to stop their deportation under the Alien Enemies Act. This old law lets the government quickly remove people considered dangerous during wartime. The men said they were not part of the Tren de Aragua gang, as the administration claimed, and were afraid of being deported without a fair legal process.

Judge Boasberg first issued a temporary order stopping deportations under the Alien Enemies Act for two weeks. However, during an emergency court hearing where the judge verbally commanded the flights to be turned back, at least two planes carrying deportees still left for El Salvador. The administration kept deporting people despite the judge’s order, which led to the current contempt case.

Judge believes he can hold Trump officials in contempt

The administration argued that once the planes left U.S. airspace, the judge no longer had authority over them, and they also claimed that spoken orders from the judge were not legally binding. After the deportations happened, the judge issued a written order again telling the administration to stop the deportations.

The administration’s refusal to share details about when the flights took place made the judge even more concerned. Later, the Supreme Court overturned Boasberg’s temporary order, saying he didn’t have jurisdiction because the deportees were being held in Texas, not Washington. However, Boasberg said he still had the power to hold the administration in contempt for ignoring his earlier orders.

The Supreme Court’s decision did not excuse the administration’s earlier refusal to follow the judge’s commands since court orders must be obeyed until they are officially overturned. Judge Boasberg’s contempt ruling is based on his belief that the administration showed “willful disregard” for his orders. He pointed out that the timing of the flights seemed deliberately planned to avoid the court’s intervention.

He also mentioned a tweet from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that appeared to celebrate the deportations happening despite the court order, which the judge saw as further proof that the administration was defying him. The judge made it clear that even spoken orders from a judge are legally binding, and ignoring them would create “absurd mischief.”

The judge gave the administration two choices: either come up with a plan to fix their actions and “purge their contempt,” or name the people responsible for deciding to continue the deportations against his orders. If they don’t identify those responsible, the judge will take further steps to find out who made the decision and hold them accountable.

The next stages of the case will involve collecting sworn statements about how the deportation flights were approved and possible additional hearings or interviews. In the end, Judge Boasberg could send the case to the Department of Justice for prosecution or appoint a special prosecutor.