The Trump administration wants to fire a federal judge who questioned whether the White House deported hundreds of Venezuelans to El Salvador against a court order.
Monday’s Justice Department request targeted Justice James Boasberg before a hearing in his Washington courtroom. Boasberg ordered the administration to report when deportation flights took off, including after his injunction.
The disagreement follows President Donald Trump’s deportation of over 200 Venezuelans, whom his government believes are members of the abduction, extortion, and contract assassination group Tren de Aragua. The flights occurred despite a temporary court injunction banning Alien Enemies Act deportations of 1798.
Trump has strengthened his authority since January, slashing legislative funding, destroying federal agencies, and firing thousands of government workers. The government claims courts have no authority over the president’s use of the 18th-century law, which has only been used in wartime.
In an emergency hearing on Saturday, the ACLU blocked Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act for deportations for two weeks. The government said it did not violate the judgment since the flights had left when the written injunction was issued.
“The judge’s spoken directive to return any planes was not enforceable,” the Justice Department wrote.
Legal scholars rejected administrative justification.
“A governmental plane on governmental business is not in a law-free zone,” said UNC constitutional law professor Michael J. Gerhardt. “If so, the government could do whatever it wants as long as it is not on US soil.”
The administration’s actions raise judicial independence issues. Trump’s critics say his failure to follow court orders threatens executive-judicial balance.
One legal expert stated, “With the Republican-controlled Congress backing him, federal judges are often the only check on Trump’s authority.”
Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, defended Trump and criticized the judiciary for countrywide injunctions.
Rubio remarked on Fox News, “All you’ve got to do is find a judge anywhere in America and issue these orders that apply nationally,” undermining judicial power.
Trump rarely uses the Alien Enemies Act to justify deportations. Only during the War of 1812, World War I, and World War II was the law utilized to intern Japanese, German, and Italian individuals.
The White House reported 261 deportations, including 137 under the Alien Enemies Act and over 100 through ordinary immigration procedures. The administration deported 23 Salvadoran MS-13 gang members.
The ACLU and Democratic senators have challenged the deportations, claiming the administration failed to prove Venezuelan criminality.
Four Democratic senators—Dick Durbin, Alex Padilla, Cory Booker, and Peter Welch—called the Alien Enemies Act “an unlawful and brazen power grab.”
“All of us, including the courts, must continue to hold this administration accountable and prevent Trump from taking us down a dark and dangerous road,” they concluded.
The White House claims it followed the judge’s decision and defends its immigration policies.
