A federal judge said in an order Wednesday that he has found probable cause to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt over the deportation flights that it sent to El Salvador, NBC News reports.
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,” the judge wrote.
Boasberg ordered any planes that were in the air to be turned around during an emergency hearing on Saturday, March 15, shortly after the White House made public that President Donald Trump had signed an executive order invoking the Alien Enemies Act — a rarely used wartime power — in order to deport alleged members of a Venezuelan gang.
Lawyers for the plaintiff in the case said their five clients were not members of the Tren de Aragua gang, and were being sent to a prison in El Salvador without any due process.
He added that, “If Defendants opt to purge their contempt, they shall file by April 23, 2025, a declaration explaining the steps they have taken and will take to do so.”
The White House did not immediately comment on the ruling.
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