An appeals court has blocked criminal contempt proceedings launched by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg against the Trump administration.
The Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated Boasberg’s order. “The Supreme Court vacated the district court’s order because it was premised on a legal error and the plaintiffs’ suit was brought in the wrong court,” the court wrote. “Nonetheless, the district court threatened to hold government officials in criminal contempt unless they complied with the now-vacated order by, for instance, taking back custody of the plaintiffs. We issued a writ of mandamus vacating the court’s first contempt order.”
“The district court proposes to probe high-level Executive Branch deliberations about matters of national security and diplomacy. These proceedings are a clear abuse of discretion, as the district court’s order said nothing about transferring custody of the plaintiffs and therefore lacks the clarity to support criminal contempt based on the transfer of custody,” the decision adds. “Moreover, the government has already provided the name of the responsible official, so further judicial investigation is unnecessary and therefore improper. In these circumstances, mandamus is appropriate to prevent the district court from assuming an antagonistic jurisdiction that encroaches on the autonomy of the Executive Branch.”
The deportation proceedings stemmed from the removal of illegal immigrants to El Salvador. Boasberg ordered that the deportation flights stop and turn around, but the Trump administration continued with its efforts.
Boasberg again ordered the Trump administration to return illegal immigrants from Venezuela deported under the Alien Enemies Act in February. Boasberg wrote in the order that the case “would never have arisen had the Government simply afforded Plaintiffs their constitutional rights before initially deporting them.” He noted that mights may file additional documents “seeking to show that the Proclamation under which they were deported unlawfully invoked the Alien Enemies Act and/or that they are not members of Tren del Aragua and thus not subject to the Proclamation.” The “Proclamation” refers to President Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act from March 2025.
