Appeals court halts Boasberg’s contempt proceedings against Trump administration
A divided federal appeals court panel on Friday temporarily halted U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s contempt proceedings against the Trump administration over its deportation flights to El Salvador last month.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit indicated its order is intended to provide “sufficient opportunity” for the court to consider the government’s appeal and “should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits of that motion.”
But for now, it prevents Boasberg from moving ahead with his efforts to hold administration officials in contempt. The judge on Wednesday found probable cause for contempt, calling the government’s refusal to turn around the March 15 deportation flights “a willful disregard” for the court’s order.
The three-judge D.C. Circuit panel split 2-1. The two Trump appointees, Judges Gregory Katsas and Neomi Rao, ruled for the administration. Judge Cornelia Pillard, an appointee of former President Obama, dissented.
“In the absence of an appealable order or any clear and indisputable right to relief that would support mandamus, there is no ground for an administrative stay,” Pillard wrote in a brief explanation. …
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Trump on mistakenly deported man: ‘I was elected to take bad people out of the United States’
President Trump argued that he was elected in November to “take bad people out of” the country, sharing a photo of what he says is proof of a mistakenly deported man’s gang ties.
The president posted a picture of Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s hand on Friday, showing various tattoos on his knuckles, including a marijuana leaf, a cross, a skull and a smiley face…..
“It is difficult in some cases to get to the very heart of the matter. But in this case, it is not hard at all. The government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the assemblage of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order. Further, it claims in essence that because it has rid itself of custody, there is nothing that can be done. This should be shocking not only to judges but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from the courthouse still hold dear.”
— Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson, a Reagan appointee and conservative icon, in an opinion about the Maryland man wrongly-deported to El Salvador.
Other Trump Immigration News…
“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem will not recommend invoking the Insurrection Act in a memo the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security are preparing to send to President Donald Trump about the conditions at the southern border,” CNN reports.
“The Insurrection Act is a 19th century law that would allow the president to use active-duty troops within the United States to perform law enforcement functions such as arresting migrants.”
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“A federal judge in DC told lawyers for migrants in Texas who believed the Trump administration is about to swiftly deport them under the Alien Enemies Act that he did not have the power to pause the deportations, even though he was concerned about the administration’s actions,” CNN reports.
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