The White House announces plans to appeal a ruling stating the administration violated a court order regarding deportation flights.
A federal judge in the United States has indicated there is “probable cause” to hold President Donald Trump’s administration in criminal contempt for failing to comply with his directive to return deportation flights to El Salvador.
In a written decision issued on Wednesday, US District Judge James Boasberg asserted that the Trump administration had exhibited “willful disregard” for his ruling on March 15, which mandated that the government could not deport alleged Venezuelan gang affiliates under an 18th-century wartime law without providing them with an opportunity to contest their deportation.
Judge Boasberg noted that the administration’s actions were “adequate for the court to determine that probable cause exists to find the government in criminal contempt,” as stated in his 46-page ruling.
“The Court does not arrive at this conclusion lightly or hastily; indeed, it has afforded the Defendants sufficient opportunity to amend or justify their actions,” Boasberg remarked.
“However, none of their replies has been satisfactory.”
Boasberg mentioned that the administration still had a chance to avoid contempt if it permitted deportees to challenge their removals in court.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung announced that the administration intends to appeal the verdict.
“The President is fully committed to ensuring that terrorists and criminal illegal immigrants no longer pose a threat to Americans and their communities nationwide,” Cheung stated through a message on social media.
Boasberg’s ruling marks the closest any court has come to implying that officials in the Trump administration could face consequences regarding the contentious deportation flights.
The Trump administration has deported 238 individuals it claims are part of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua to El Salvador, where they have been detained in the Centre for the Confinement of Terrorism, a maximum-security facility with a capacity of 40,000.
US authorities have provided limited evidence to substantiate their assertions of gang affiliation, and various media reports indicate that there is minimal public information demonstrating that any substantial number of the deportees possess criminal records.
Trump has controversially cited the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which empowers the US president to detain or deport noncitizens during wartime, to execute these deportations.
Critics have denounced the application of this law, arguing that the US is not currently facing any “invasion” threats due to being at war.