A D.C. appeals court overturned U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s contempt ruling against the Trump administration Friday, citing the changed circumstances in the case.
Boasberg ruled in April to hold the Trump administration in contempt for its deportations to the Salvadoran maximum-security prison Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo.
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“Our @TheJusticeDept attorneys just secured a MAJOR victory defending President [Donald] Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport illegal alien terrorists,” Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on X. “The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed what we’ve argued for months: Judge Boasberg’s attempt to sanction the government for deporting criminal-alien terrorists was a “clear abuse of discretion” — failed judicial overreach at its worst. We will continue fighting and WINNING in court for President Trump’s agenda to keep America Safe!”
The three-judge court decided that transferring the deported plaintiffs from CECOT to Venezuela, among other things, contributed to their overturning of the contempt ruling.
“For its part, the government contends that the transfer rendered the entire action moot—an issue best addressed by the district court in the first instance,” they wrote. “Under these circumstances, it would make little sense for this Court to review a preliminary injunction that, in all likelihood, has been overtaken by events.”
Judges Gregory Katsas and Neomi Rao, both Trump appointees, concurred. Judge Cornelia Pillard, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, dissented.
Boasberg had accused the Trump administration of using the Alien Enemies Act, an archaic wartime law, to speed up the deportation of immigrants before they could challenge their removal in court, and of violating his order to return planes in the air to the United States.
The Trump administration denied violating Boasberg’s order.
Last month, the Justice Department filed a misconduct complaint against Boasberg for making “improper public comments” about the administration.
DOJ FILES COMPLAINT AGAINST JUDGE BOASBERG FOR UNDERMINING ‘INTEGRITY’ OF JUDICIARY
“These comments have undermined the integrity of the judiciary, and we will not stand for that,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in announcing the complaint.
Trump called Boasberg a “Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge, a troublemaker and agitator” in March. He demanded that the judge be impeached after he halted Trump’s efforts to remove Venezuelan migrants with the Alien Enemies Act.