A judge said Wednesday there is probable cause to hold Donald Trump’s administration in criminal contempt for refusing to turn around the El Salvador-bound planes carrying more than 200 Venezuelan immigrants last month.
In a 46-page ruling, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg wrote that the government’s actions “demonstrate a willful disregard” of his previous order that barred Trump from deporting the Venezuelan immigrants—the majority of whom have no criminal record— to El Salvador, where they are currently being held in CECOT, a prison notorious for human rights abuses.
Trump deported the immigrants under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, an archaic law that has only been invoked three times before, most famously for the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
The White House’s blatant disregard of Boasberg’s order is “sufficient to conclude” that there is probable cause for criminal contempt, the judge wrote, adding that none of the government’s explanations have been satisfactory.
“The Constitution does not tolerate willful disobedience of judicial orders—especially by officials of a coordinate branch who have sworn an oath to uphold it,” the ruling reads.
This is a breaking news story.
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