By Steve Neavling
A federal judge sharply criticized the Trump administration Monday for deporting more than 200 alleged gang members to El Salvador despite a court order barring their removal.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg told Justice Department attorneys it was a “heck of a stretch” to argue that his verbal directive to halt the deportations could be disregarded, ABC News reports. Boasberg had issued the order during a Saturday hearing, instructing officials to turn around any departing planes. However, administration lawyers determined the order did not apply once flights were over international waters, and the planes continued to their destinations.
Deputy Associate Attorney General Abhishek Kambli argued the directive wasn’t enforceable until it was put in writing later that evening.
“You knew in the morning that there would be a hearing at 5 p.m.,” Boasberg replied. “So when I said directly to turn those planes around, the idea that my written order was pithier, that this could be disregarded, that’s a heck of a stretch.”
Kambli insisted the administration complied with the written order but refused to provide details, citing national security concerns. Boasberg pushed back.
“My equitable powers are pretty clear that they do not lapse at the water’s edge,” the judge said.
Boasberg ordered the DOJ to submit a sworn declaration by noon Tuesday detailing whether a third flight that departed after his written order carried detainees who were removable on other grounds. He scheduled another hearing for Friday, barring intervention from an appeals court.
Lawyers for the ACLU and Democracy Forward argued the administration “blatantly violated” the order by claiming it only applied to flights still in U.S. airspace. They also pointed to public statements from El Salvador’s government boasting that the court was “too late” to stop the deportations.
Boasberg’s temporary restraining order bars further deportations under Trump’s Alien Enemies Act proclamation for at least 14 days.
“You shall inform your clients of this immediately,” Boasberg warned DOJ attorneys. “Any plane containing these folks that is going to take off or is in the air needs to be returned to the United States.”
