Judge Faces Off Against DOJ in Potential Constitutional Showdown

Lawyers from the Justice Department who were advocating for the Trump administration took a firm stance during a federal court session on Monday. They chose not to address multiple queries posed by the judge and continued to uphold the actions taken by the administration following apparent violations of the judge’s directive by immigration officials.

The proceedings revolved around U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s oral directive issued on Saturday. The judge ordered that aircraft utilized for expelling individuals under the seldom-used AlienEnemiesAct during times of war must promptly return to the country.

The administrative lawyers claimed they were not unwilling to adhere to the rules — despite admitting they disregarded an oral directive from the judge.

On Saturday, the administration permitted several aircraft to land in El Salvador — the president who has vowed to send deportees to be thrown into a notoriously brutal supermax prison — hours after Boasberg put a halt to the deportations. On Saturday, in the courtroom, the judge stated This is something that needs to be ensured compliance with right away.

During Monday's hearing, the administration's legal representatives stated that they did not view the judge's oral directive as effective—and contended that a subsequent one-paragraph "minute order" recorded in the court records took precedence over it. This minute order made no reference to diverting aircraft.

"That's quite a leap," responded Judge Boasberg, who serves as the chief judge for the federal district court in Washington, D.C., following arguments from a lawyer with the Justice Department. confirmed that the administration thought it could ignore his verbal directive. (Verbal directives are indeed considered judicial orders.)

The Justice Department lawyers, Abhishek Kambli and August Flentje, also argued that Trump’s “inherent authority” regarding foreign policy and military decisions trumped the judge’s authority once the planes left the United States, even though Boasberg’s verbal order had addressed planes that were “in the air.”

Boasberg countered that his own authority did not end “at the airspace’s edge.”

Lee Gelernt, an ACLU attorney who addressed the court, said the question of the extent of Trump’s powers was a question for the appeals process, and that the administration’s claims about Trump’s power “gives them no basis for simply not complying with the order” from the district court judge.

Kambli and Flentje refused to answer some of the judge’s questions, saying they were “not at liberty” to discuss “operational issues” such as how many planes departed the United States Saturday carrying deportees who were subject to the president’s Alien Enemies Act invocation.

Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act Saturday for only the fourth time in all of American history. The law gives the president power to imprison and deport non-citizens without due process during wartime. Trump claims The Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua, which he had previously mentioned. designated a terrorist group is essentially "engaging in unconventional warfare" and collaborating with the Venezuelan government to destabilize the United States via immigration. On Monday, the Department of Justice lawyers stated that some of those deported on Saturday were removed from the U.S. using different legal provisions instead of the Alien Enemies Act.

Pressured by Boasberg regarding whether they couldn't delve into the specifics due to classification—offering to mute the courtroom microphones and have a private discussion with the attorneys—the Justice Department lawyers tried to dodge the issue.

All I can state is that I have permission to convey what was mentioned in our official filings and communicated to the public. Beyond this information, anything additional would be irrelevant since we firmly believe that we adhered to the court's directive, specifically stating that no flights departed from U.S. territory following receipt of the written instruction," stated one of the Justice Department lawyers. (The poor audio quality on the court’s telephone system made it challenging to distinguish between the two representatives from the DOJ.)

“That does not comply with my order,” Boasberg shot back, adding that his order was “broader than that. It’s not a question of ‘taking off’ from U.S. territory, as anyone who reads a transcript of the hearing knows.” He said the administration would have to provide a specific reason why it wanted to exclude information from court.

Boasberg didn’t issue any rulings, but set a noon Tuesday deadline for the administration to lay out its position in writing, as well as provide various facts the Justice Department lawyers said Monday that they couldn’t.

“I will memorialize this in a written order, since apparently my oral orders don’t seem to carry much weight,” Boasberg said.

The hearing highlighted the Trump administration’s progressively more forceful stance towards the judiciary, sparking concerns that the administration might start routinely disregarding judicial rulings.

Gelernt once stated that "I believe we're nearing a constitutional crisis."

On Sunday, El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, who supported Trump, sarcastically tweeted "Oopsie... Too late 😂" in response to Boasberg’s ruling. Subsequently, Secretary of State Marco Rubio shared Bukele's tweet, along with Elon Musk. called for the impeachment of the judge.

Bukele also released a video depicting the deportees being roughly handled and transported to the infamous prison called the Terrorism Confinement Center, also known as CECOT.

Without proper legal procedures, it’s impossible to determine if those being deported were actually Venezuelan gang members or just asylum seekers and migrants who had nothing to do with gangs. They were handed over by the Trump administration to face imprisonment in another nation without any clear justification.

"Our client escaped from Venezuela last year and arrived in the U.S. to apply for asylum," stated Lindsay Toczylowski, who is also the founder, president, and CEO of the [Immigrant Defenders Law Center]. wrote He possesses a robust case. He was held at arrival as ICE asserted his tattoos were associated with gangs. This assertion is entirely false.

Toczylowski mentioned that the unidentified client "has reportedly been forcibly moved, we think, to El Salvador."

“Neither a court, nor a judge, nor a jury has ever listened to their case,” stated Dan McFadden, the managing attorney at ACLU of Massachusetts. observed Individually, pointing to an image of deportees in El Salvador, ("The ACLU is one of the organizations opposing Trump’s Alien Enemies Act directive.") "There was no option to appeal. It was simply a flight to a mandatory work camp in El Salvador for anyone deemed fit by Trump."

As early as the lead-up to Monday’s hearing, the federal government remained unwavering. urging Boasberg to cancel the hearing “and de-escalate the grave incursions on Executive Branch authority that have already arisen.” (The judge declined.) The administration also asked An appeals court to transfer the case to a different district court judge.

During his second term, Trump is attempting an unparalleled power grab, claiming almost limitless authority to dismiss federal employees, abolish agencies established by Congress, and terminate (and potentially claw back ) funds already allocated for expenditure as per legislation. Conversely, the courts have curtailed the administration, compelling them to reverse numerous actions.